Children of Wolves
by Calla Wright
Summary: Teddy and Victoire have known each other their whole lives, this story follows them through their time at Hogwarts from being sorted to their older years, as they come to terms that what they've been looking for has been standing right by them all along.
1. Preface

It was a warm summer evening in August at Shell Cottage. The Weasleys and company were gathered round several picnic tables out on the lawn overlooking the beach as the waves crashed on the sand in a steady rhythm.

"...and then the boats take us across the lake, don't they Harry!" an animated Teddy Lupin asked, as he bounced up and down beside his godfather at the table.

"That's right, and you've got to be careful not to fall in..." Harry smiled.

"Or else the giant squid'll get 'cha!" joked Ron Weasley from across the table.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, but the news didn't seem to bother the seven year old Teddy. Victoire Weasley on the other hand seemed quite disturbed by it.

"Daddy, there isn't _really_ a squid in the lake is there?" she whispered to her father, who was half way to putting a piece of bloody stake into his mouth. Bill Weasley chewed, swallowed and grinned down at his daughter. "I'm afraid there is, Toire, but no worries, it's friendly enough."

Victoire turned her wide blue eyes back across the table to Teddy where he continued to bounce up and down in his seat, his bright blue hair bouncing with him. Teddy always seemed to be talking about Hogwarts, thought Victoire. He never spoke of anything else.

"Alright Teddy, settle down." laughed Ginny coming up behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder, while bending down to kiss Harry on the cheek. She was massive, Victoire observed, her pregnant belly sticking out under her blue tank top. She remembered when just a few years ago when her own mother had looked like that.

As if on cue, a tiny toddler waddled into the yard, the baby girl's blonde hair flapping after her, her feet sliding across the grass as she laughed.

"Dominique!" called a voice from inside the cottage. "Ou est tu mademoiselle?"

"She's out here!" Bill called, snatching up his youngest daughter and tickling her as she giggled. Fleur Weasley stepped out onto the lawn, her silvery-blonde hair that so much resembled Victoire's floating behind her. The veela descendant settled herself down beside her husband, smiling and striking up a conversation with Audrey; Percy's wife.

Victoire took at moment to glance around the yard. Most people were settled at the long tables, but in the distance she could see her uncles Percy and George playing with their toddlers. Percy looked like he had his hands full with just little Molly, but George looked at ease with the twins Fred and Roxanne, and everyone knew how much trouble they were then Molly. Her eyes shifted back to Teddy, who was miming the sorting hat with his hands much to the amusement of everyone around him. He still had four years left, and yet he had been ready for Hogwarts long ago.

That evening as the families disappeared back home, Bill tucked Victoire into bed just as the sun had set. Victoire's eyes wandered round her room, from the high ceilings to the calming blue wallpaper, to the wall length window that looked out over the ocean. She sighed and snuggled into her pillow, turning to face her mother.

"Daddy, is Hogwarts really all that Teddy says it is?" she asked him a strong note of wonder in her voice. Bill chuckled to himself before answering. "All that and more." he whispered, kissing her forehead and handing her the bright blue stuffed bear she slept with every night. "Good night Victoire." Bill whispered through the darkness.

"Goodnight daddy." she whispered back. She waited until she could hear him down the hall before the six year old turned to the bear in her arms and whispered; "Good night Teddy."


	2. Don't Forget to Write

"First to a hundred has to kiss a gnome!" Teddy announced, swerving through the air on his Comet 290, a quaffle tucked firmly under his arm. At eleven, Teddy Lupin had grown into a springy boy and stood taller then the rest of his adoptive family, even Victoire who had also grown into a beaming ten year old. Now, almost four years after that summer night at Shell Cottage, the family was back at the burrow, the days trickling by before Teddy was to start his very first year at Hogwarts, which would in fact be the next day. Inside the house you could hear shrieks of laughter as the horde of Weasleys and Potters talked, played at enjoyed the last days of summer. Teddy and Victoire had talked some of the adults into playing a few rounds of three on three Quiddich with them before supper, and everything was all set up.

Victoire swiveled round in the air on her Nimbus, glancing behind her at her father and uncle Ron, both who had agreed to verse Teddy, Harry and Uncle George for bragging rights. Down on the ground, Ginny and Hermione sat on lawn chairs watching the match above them, Hermione now pregnant with her second child, Ginny with her third. On cue, Ginny twitched her wand, releasing the quaffle that shot up between the two children.

Instantly, Teddy and Victoire soared after it, Teddy making a wild swoop and catching the quaffle before spiraling upwards and shooting off towards Ron at the hoops, Victoire right on his tail. Teddy took a shot, but Ron easily deflected it, knocking it straight towards Victoire who caught it in one hand and spun to the opposite end of the pitch.

"Dad!" she yelled, tossing the quaffle to her father who laughed as Harry zipped by, easily catching the ball and scoring on Ron to the delight of his two teammates.

Half an hour later, with the score 100-80, the game wrapped up, Bill clapping his sullen daughter on the shoulder. "Next time we'll get 'em Toire." he laughed, as Teddy landed and sauntered off cockily to brag to anyone who'd listen about his accomplishments.

"Don't feel bad." Harry said, ruffling her hair. "You've got the build for a seeker. I can tell. Teddy's an excellent chaser, but he's too easily distracted to catch a snitch. You've got the sharp eyes and wit for it." he said, snapping his fingers in front of her nose causing her to blink in surprise. Laughing, the group headed back inside the burrow where Mrs. Weasley senior had made an enormous dinner for Teddy's last night at home.

That night at the burrow, Victoire tossed and turned in her sleep, wondering how she was going to spend the coming ten months with Teddy away at school. She longed to be a year older so she could go to Hogwarts too, and she feared he'd come home and not want anything to do with her. Suddenly she heard a tapping at her window and sat up blearily. Across the room outside the window she could see a silouette in the moonlight. Startled by the figure (her room was three floors up), she threw the covers to one side and crossed the room to open the window. There, riding his broom across from her was a pyjama clad Teddy, teal hair ruffled from sleep, eyes wide in excitement.

"Teddy, what are you doing?" Victoire whispered, shocked that he was still up considering the early start he'd need the next day.

"I can't sleep, Toire, I'm too excited." he said, almost trembling in anticipation. "Come outside, we can go for a ride." he said, nodding at his broom. "First years arn't allowed brooms at Hogwarts, so this might be the last time I get to ride mine for awhile."

"Teddy, it's past midnight." she said, her head thinking it was a bad idea, but her body already climbing over the window sill to slide down smoothly onto the back of his broom.

"Brilliant!" he announced, before soaring off at a high speed, causing her to wrap her arms round his waist and cling to him for dear life. He let out a loud laugh as they soared round the Burrow, the moonlight casting strange shadows on everything, making the world around them seem bigger, more vast, and Victoire took a second to capture the moment, swearing to herself she'd remember it forever.

The next morning Victoire was prodded awake by her mother. She'd managed to get a couple hours of sleep after Teddy had dropped her back off at her bedroom, but it had only seemed like a few seconds before Fleur was hovering over her.

"Bon matin ma cherie, you said you wantid to zee Teddi off at zee station before ee left for 'Ogwarts?"

Victoire dressed herself hurriedly and rushed down the stairs to the kitchen where a tired looking Teddy sat eating eggs as Ginny fried up a couple more. Harry sat beside Teddy reading the Daily Phophet, Bill, Ron and Hermione appeared sleepily in the kitchen. Ginny looked up and glanced at the clock on the wall, (the none magical one), and glanced at Teddy.

"It's about time. Ready to go, Ted?"

Teddy looked up anxiously, then cast a glance at Victoire. Suddenly the worried look was gone and as they shared a smile, both remembering their flight from the night before, Teddy stood up, brushed the crumbs from his jeans and stood up.

"More then ever." he grinned.

The group of adults going to the station; Harry, Bill, Ron and Ginny, along with the two children walked out into the light of the day. It had started to rain and Victoire had a single second to look at Teddy once more before they were both pulled towards their guardians and expiriencing the tight, breathless feeling of side along apperation.

Blinking in the new light, Victoire looked round as the group of six stepped out of an alley way across from Kings Cross Station. Teddy took his bag from Harry and ran to find a cart, as Victoire took in the busy crowds all around them, ignoring the strange looks they recieved as Teddy's new barred owl, Jinx, screeched loudly from her cage, Victoire managed to pick up on other wizarding familys, walking aimlessly through Kings Cross, looking lost and confused before suddenly disapearing.

"Ready Toire?" Bill asked, a hand on her shoulder. Looking about she noticed that they were the last two of their group. She nodded, and in an instant her father had taken her arm and stepped towards a large brick barrier. She felt a whoosh and a drop in her stomach, and then found herself on a busy platform, facing a gleaming scarlett train.

"Wow." Victoire breathed, taking in the sight, the smells and the sounds of the platform. All around her she saw young witches and wizards hugging their familys, laughing with friends, showing off new wands and gadgets (several of which Victoire recognized from uncle George's shop) and climbing on board the looming steam engine.

"Cheers there Teddy!" came a voice from behind, and Victoire turned to see Sean McCalroy, a good friend of Teddy's and fellow first year approaching on on the platform. His scruffy brown hair hung loose in his eyes and his new wand stuck out of his jean pocket. "Got yours?" he asked Teddy, inquiring about the wand. "Let's see then."

"Alden, eleven inches." Teddy announced proudly, pulling out the wand which he held as if it were made of gold. "Pliable." he added.

"Nice, nice." Sean said, inspecting it, his brown eyes roaming and Victoire had to stifle a laugh at how serious they were acting. "Mine's Vine. Ten inches." he said whipping it out and waving it around non-chalantly as it immided angry red sparks. "Springy."

The train let out a loud whistle, and as Sean nodded goodbye, Teddy turned round to face his family.

"I think it's time." Harry said softly, trying to ignore the awed looks he was getting from everyone on the platform. "You'd best say your goodbyes then Ted."

He hugged Ginny first, not having to reach up far to wrap his arms round her neck.

"I'll be absolutly huge when you come home for Christmas." she smiled, patting her tummy. Next he hugged Ron, who made a joke about not getting into too little trouble, now that he had the Mauraders to live up to. Bill gave him a firm clap on the shoulder and told him he was proud of him, and that his father would have been proud. Bill had always been soft around Teddy, as he and Reamus had grown to be good friends in the time they'd worked together.

Finally, he faced Victoire, who found that her lip was quivering. Suddenly and compleatly unexpectedly: she burst into tears. Teddy stepped up and wrapped his arms round her, hugging her tight.

"I'll be back at Christmas." he whispered. "I'll write."

"You're going to forget about me." she whimpered as he pulled away. He took a moment to take her in as she wiped her eyes before he said; "How could I forget about you?You're my best friend."

With a final wave goodbye, Teddy clamoured onto the train, just as the scarlett beast let out a final loud whistle.

Victoire watched long after the train had dissapeared, the feel of his hug still keeping her warm.


	3. Changes in Friends

The snow had settled firmly around the Burrow and Arthur Weasley had needed the help of nearly all his sons to lug the huge Christmas tree into the house. It was seven days to Christmas, as Harry and Ron had gone to collect Teddy to bring him home for the first time since he'd left for Hogwarts.

Ever since the first day, letters had arrived almost weekly to Victoire and the others, the first excitedly announcing that Teddy had been sorted into Gryffindor, and was sharing his dorm room with Sean as well as three other boys, one who happened to be a cousin of Dean Thomas. He wrote about his teachers, about Headmistress McGonagall and how he was already popular from his connections with Hagrid and Neville, who had just started as the Herbology teacher, not to mention the famous Harry Potter as his godfather. In each letter he sounded happier and happier, and it seemed clear to everyone that Teddy, like Harry, had found a place he could now really call his home. He had attended the years Quiddich matches with the rest of the school and was determined to make the house team next year and had been practicing after hours and on break along with Sean and Clyde, another boy in his dorm.

Meanwhile at the Burrow, Victoire was arranging her hair over and over again, stalking feet tapping in anticipation of her best friend's arrival. She'd never titled him that, her best friend, before he'd announced it on the platform. But now she was giddier then ever in her room with the sounds of crowded chatter and pots and pans clashing together. Suddenly the familiar creak of the front door sounded up the many stairs, and Victoire froze.

"Look who's here!" Harry's voice called out loudly, and cheers of greeting rang out through the downstairs. In a flash, Victoire was on the stairs rushing down, her silver dress fluttering behind her, as she slid onto the landing.

Teddy was halfway through pulling off his Gryffindor scarf, the snow still in his hair when she threw her arms around him, knocking him down with an "Oomf!"

The adults laughed as Teddy stared up at her, a crimson glow spreading up her neck until it engulfed her face in the famous Weasley blush. She scrambled off him and in an instant he was on his feet, helping her up.

It was this moment she'd been waiting for, after all those months, this moment when he'd hug her again, call her his best friend again, and maybe later they'd take another ride on his broom.

"It's good to see you Victoire." he smiled, before brushing past her into the crowd waiting for him, leaving her in the foyer, smile slowly drifting from her face.

To say he was cruel wouldn't be accurate. In fact to anyone he would have seemed exactly the same; laughing, goofing off and always talking of Hogwarts. But Victoire could tell something was off. Only she had noticed that he had broken his promise.

He didn't forget about her, but she was no longer his only friend. He had moved on.

That night as she sat in her room thinking back to the events of the evening her heart clenched, missing the boy she had once called her best friend. He was still plenty friendly, talking to her just as much as the others and laughing along with her, that she could almost forget he hadn't talked to her alone that night. No hidden smiles or secret winks. She was just another part of the crowd to him. Another friend to be tolerated.

Story's of adventure and trouble flowed from his mouth to the amusement of her family, all merrily brought back to their days at school when they were carefree and childless.

He talked tales all staring his new Gryffindor friends; Sean, Clyde and Jensen and how they had to put up with their fifth twat of a roommate Theodore. He talked about the food, the teachers, and a billion other things Victoire didn't understand that everyone thought was clearly too far above her head in Hogwarts knowledge to even bother explaining. He even debated the Quiddich standings with Ron, arguing that the Falmouth Falcons were far more likely to win the cup then the Chudley Cannons.

Victoire couldn't help but feel depressed and alone at the thought that when she started Hogwarts the next year, she would have nothing to help her gain friends. No famous godfather, no multicolored hair and certainly no Teddy to guide her.

But the day before Christmas, things seemed to be looking up. Molly Weasley had sent Victoire into town to buy some cranberries and pick up some packages she'd ordered for Christmas. Just Victoire had slipped on her coat, a voice rang out from behind her.

"Your gran wants me to come with." Teddy said, shoving his boots on and tying his already worn scarf round his neck. "Too many packages for one girl alone." he grinned.

Victoire was too shocked to say anything, not having heard Teddy speak directly to her since the day he arrived, so they set off into the snow in silence, the only sounds their boots trudging through the wet.

"You're gonna love Hogwarts." Teddy said after a five minute silence, breaking the tension as he twirled his wand round his fingers like Victoire had seen Orsino Thruston, drummer for the Weird Sisters, do several times in pictures.

"Is it amazing?" she asked, eager to keep the conversation going. This question seemed to set Teddy off, because he launched into a speech about it.

"It's the best wizarding school in the world!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "Lots of the teachers have been there for years, Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Flitwick even taught your dad! And of course you'll love the Gryffindor common room, it's always really busy after class, and oh man, after a _Quiddich Game!_ When we won it was an uproar! They made me change my hair red and gold for the occasion, well really it was my idea, but no one'll believe me on that one..."

He talked on and on about Gryffindor and the vast and beauty of Hogwarts, not caring to mention the other houses except to say how Slytherin's had always rivaled Gryffindor, and how they absolutely pummled the Hufflepuff Quiddich team that past October.

It was finally like old times between the two of them. The mood had been lightened, and when it was finally time for Teddy to return to school, it was as if a weight had been lifted off both their chests, as he promised to write and send her word of Hogwarts.

As he departed, the pair of them shook hands, both anticipating the next year when they'd both be in Gryffindor and Teddy could introduce Victoire to the magic of Hogwarts.


	4. Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley was as busy as it had ever been that August morning, and eleven year old Victoire Weasley stood in the center of it all wishing she had eight more eyes to take it all in. The colours, sounds and scents that surrounded her on the busy cobblestone street was almost overwhelming as she stood beside the family that had accompanied her. Teddy was to her right, standing smugly as he waited for Victoire to get over her initial shock of her first trip to Diagon Alley. Harry and Ron stood beside him, laughing about something together as they'd tagged along to keep the others company and relive old memories, her father and mother to her right, talking cheerily with one another about one thing or another.

"Let's get you fitted for robes first, Toire, and get that out of the way. We can go get your books while you're in there and then we can visit Uncle George's shop. We'll save Ollivander's for last" Bill said, guiding Victoire and the others towards Madam Malkin's.

Incidentally, Teddy was in need of new robes as well as he had torn his in an incident involving Peeves and the Whomping Willow at the end of the year prior.

Fleur, Teddy and Victoire entered the store as the men went next door to Flourish and Blotts to find all the proper first and second year textbooks the youth would be needing.

"Ah Madame Weasley!" an ancient Madame Malkins called from across the room once spying Fleur and the others. "I'll be with you in just a moment, have a seat, please."

A minute later, she was out in the front of the store.

"Hello, hello!" she welcomed kindly, sashaying around the front and greeting her customers. "Teddy, back again? My god what have you done to those pants of yours?" she announced appalled at the sight of Teddy's torn jeans.

"I can't imagine what you're robes must look like... I'll be sure to fit you with some self-repairing ones this time..."

Her eyes turned to Victoire and she lit up. "And you must be Victoire! You look just like you mother! And just as beautiful! I see the Veela in you will have all the boys entranced at school!" she said winking at the girl who blushed at the compliment. Madame Malkins led the two students into the back room, setting Victoire up on a pedestal before going off to the boys end of the shop to fit Teddy up first.

Standing there awkwardly Victoire turned to see that she was not alone in the back room. Beside her a meter or two away stood a girl who looked about her age, dressed in a long black robe with pins sticking out everywhere. The girl had silky black hair that was cropped off rather sharply at her chin and straight bangs that formed a sleek bob. She had very fair skin and a sharp pointed nose, making her features rather angular. Her dark green eyes were peering at Victoire curiously and Victoire met her gaze shyly, not trying to seem rude.

"First year at Hogwarts?" the girl asked, shifting uncomfortably under her robe, trying to avoid being pricked.

"Yes." Victoire answered politely. "Yours?"

"Yep." the girl replied, rocking back and forth on her heels. "What house are you hoping for?"

"Gryffindor." she replied, not missing a beat. To her surprise, the girl let out a snort. "Seems like everyone's saying that these days." the stranger smirked.

"My whole family's been in Gryffindor." Victoire said cooly. "I think it's only natural I'd be there too."

"What's your name?" the girl asked. "Victoire Weasley." she replied, watching the strangers eyebrows raise.

"You're a _Weasley?_ Well that explains it." she said grinning. "I've heard all about your family. They fought in the war didn't they?"

"Yes. My uncle's one of Harry Potter's best friends." she said proudly, glad that this girl had lightened up a bit.

"Wicked." the girl breathed. "I'm Olivia Blunt, by the way. Pureblood." she added, and Victoire flinched inside, thinking it wasn't necessary to add blood status. "As for me I'm hoping for Slytherin."

Victoire accidentally let out a small gasp and Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"But... why? Slytherins don't have a very good reputation for-"

"I don't give a damn bout their reputation." she said smugly. "I care about what they can do. Severus Snape was a Slytherin, and he was the best double agent ever, as well as a headmaster. You can be a good person and still want to be in Slytherin you know." she said cheekily. Just as Victoire was about to say that she knew all about Snape and wasn't trying to judge, Madame Malkins walked in cheerily to finalize Olivia's robes and by the time she was done, Victoire didn't even have a moment to say goodbye before the young witch had left the shop.

With new robes and books in hand, Teddy and Victoire rushed through the streets to number 93, Diagon Alley: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Victoire felt a rush of pride seeing her family's name up there on the sign that was well known by wizards and witches her age everywhere. As they pushed open the door, Victoire was amazed at everything there was to look at. Boxes stacked on ceiling high shelves, bubbles floating in the air, and Hogwarts students _everywhere!_ Teddy had run off the second they'd entered, and Victoire roamed the isles taking in the WonderWitch products as well as the ranges of sickening candies. Soon enough Teddy was back, arms full of Skiving Snackboxes, Decoy Detonators, Extendable Ears and even a portable swamp. He was about to grab a box of Wildfire Whiz-Bangs but Harry snatched it out of his hand, placing it back on the shelf with a knowing look.

"You'll need one of these soon enough as well, here." George said, appearing suddenly and tossing a Guaranteed Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher onto Teddy's pile, causing him to blush.

"Like the shop Toire?" he asked, smiling knowingly. "Anything you like, take it. It's on the house. Family get's it free." Seeing Teddy's slightly crestfallen face he nudged him and added, "And friends of course. Harry practically raked us out his first time here didn't you, mate?"

"No doubt." Harry laughed, and this seemed to cheer Teddy up a bit knowing he got the same privileges as his godfather.

By the time they left Teddy was loaded down with three bags of gags while Victoire had selected a few Patented Daydream Charms as well as her own pair of Extendable Ears, Shield gloves and a small Skiving Snackbox. She had reached for the Pimple Vanisher, but her mother had stepped in and assured her that "...anyone wiz Veela blood 'az perrfect skeen for life.", some advice Victoire took gladly into account. But she forgot it soon enough as the family finally reached Ollivander's.

Standing outside the store, Harry and Ron offered to take Teddy to get ice cream, leaving the family of three to attend to the wand purchase by their selves.

A bell tinkled softly from somewhere inside the dusty shop as Victoire stepped into Ollivander's. A man appeared behind the counter, he was the oldest looking man Victoire had ever seen! But his light blue eyes bore into her with youth and wisdom.

"Ms. Weasley." he said softly, smiling at her. "Welcome, welcome. It has been some time since I've had a Weasley buying a wand in my shop." his eyes drifted to her parents and nodded, before dissapearing into the back and returning with several boxes.

"Here, try this one: cherry, nine inches, springy. Give it a wave." Victoire took the wand and swooped it through the air, and nearly dropped it when a mirror to the left of them split up the middle.

"No, no... here wave this; oak, ten and a half inchs, bendy." Victoire held it, but before she could even wave it Mr. Ollivander snatched it back out of her hand. "Here, this one I'm sure. Willow, nine and a half inches, swishy. A unicorn hair for the core."

As Victoire was given the wand, she suddenly felt a warmth spread through her finger tips and a shower of white stars irrupted from the tip of the wand. She beamed, looking at her parents who had similar expressions on their faces.

"This is the one."

When Victoire stepped out of the shop, her new wand wrapped carefully in it's case, Harry, Ron and Teddy waved them over.

"We're going to Eeylops." Teddy announced happily. "You've got to get a pet for Hogwarts. All the best people there have them."

"And I didn't get you a birthday present in May, so I'm paying." Harry said stepping in before Fleur could protest (she had a dislike for any sort of animal brought into the house). The group headed up Diagon Alley and into Eeylops Owl Emporium, where the shop was chalk full of cages, each containing a squawking owl. Victoire finally decided upon a white and tan barn owl she properly named Vesper after the settled evening that had falled upon them.

Purcheses in hand and owl on cage, Victoire walked happily with her family along Diagon Alley, intent on her first year of Hogwarts, just days away.


	5. New Travels, New Faces

Platform 9 and 3/4 hadn't changed a bit since the previous year. Victoire stood next to Teddy staring up at the train, her wand sticking out of her cardigan pocket, his tucked safely in his jeans. She turned to face her parents who stood together behind her, Bill holding the hand of a teary eyed Dominique, Fleur's hand resting on her five month pregnant stomach.

"You'd better get going." Bill said softly, as he hugged his oldest daughter. "You've waited for this for a long time."

"Write us eeveryday." Fleur said, wrapping her slender arms round her daughter. "Je t'aime beaucoup, ma cherie."

"Come on Victoire, the train's leaving!" Shouted Teddy from one of the entrances to the steam engine. Victoire grabbed her trunk and the cage containing Vesper and, with a final wave, ran after Teddy to board the train.

"Here's Sean with a compartment..." Teddy said, leading Victoire down the narrow hallways between nodding to friends who called out his name. He slid open the compartment door. "Hello chaps." He said happily at the three boys always sitting comfortably in the compartment. "Like you to meet someone." he said, slipping into the room as Victoire entered behind him, standing tall, one hand closed around her trunk handle, thankful that Vesper had finally stopped squawking. All the boy's faces lit up as she sat herself down between Teddy and a sandy haired boy who had occupied one of the seats beside the window.

"Hellooo 'mam." he said, winking at Victoire, causing her to blush scarlet. Teddy reached across Victoire and socked him in the knee, making the boy let out a string of profanities. "The twat beside you is Clyde." Teddy said, as Clyde rocked back and forth, clutching his knee. "You've met Sean," Sean tipped an invisible hat in Victoire's direction, "and that there's Jensen." he said, nodding to the quieter boy with the sly smile and dark brown hair. "Mates, this is Victoire."

"Believe us when we say it's an honor to meet you. You're all Teddy ever talks about sometimes-" Clyde said, receiving another punch, this time in the gut to shut him up.

"Looking forward to the Sorting?" Jensen asked, his emerald green eyes focused solely on her face.

"Absolutely." she said, straightening up.

"Gryffindor your main choice?" Sean questioned.

"What other choices are there?" Teddy laughed, sending a chuckle around the room. The five of them settled down for a long trip ahead, with man a thing to talk about.

"I think I'll go check and see how much longer till the trolley gets here..." Victoire said, getting out of her seat wanting to stretch her legs. It was nearly two hours into the train ride, and her sides hurt from laughing. The boys had told loads of stories about things they'd gotten up to their previous year, and it had all of them in stitches.

Wandering along the corridor listening to the muffled voices coming from behind the doors to each compartment, Victoire caught sight of a familiar face in the window of one of the rooms. Before she had time to think, Olivia Blunt looked up from her conversation she seemed to be having with four other girls. She immediately took sight of Victoire and waved her in, causing all the other girls to stare in her direction. Embarrassed that she had been caught spying, she slid open the door and stepped into the compartment just as Olivia turned to the other girls to introduce her.

"... is Victoire Weasley, we met at Malkin's 'bout a week ago." Upon hearing her name the other girls beamed at Victoire, all looking surprisingly angelic. Victoire didn't have a lot of experience with female companionship, as her main friend had only ever been Teddy, so she felt a little uncomfortable when Olivia pulled her down into the spot next to her.

"We were just talking about which houses we want to be sorted into." Olivia announced. "I was telling them my take on Slytherin, like I'd told you back in Diagon Alley." she turned to the other girls. "Victoire's a Gryffindor fanatic." she explained, much to Victoire's discomfort. She didn't really want to be labeled as anything let alone before she'd even had the chance to speak, even though it was true that she had her heart set on Gryffindor.

"Good for you." smiled a wavy haired brunette girl sitting across from them by the window. "That's what I'm hoping for as well. My mum was a Ravenclaw, but my dad's always encouraged Gryffindor." the girl said matter of fact-ly. "I'm Marcy Fawcett, by the way."

"Oh yeah, names..." Olivia said, remembering her manners. "Victoire, that's Marcy, beside her is Lucinda Bones," a silky haired blonde with perfect teeth waved at Victoire, "to her right is Ginger Waters," a redhead who's face and arms were scattered with freckles beamed at her, showing a slight gap between her teeth. "and beside me is Trinity Warrington." A girl with the same similar sharp features as Olivia's with a brown pixie cut looked Victoire up and down quickly before giving her a tight smile. Victoire felt a sudden surprising feeling of dislike for the girl, but managed to hide it with a smile.

"I don't really care what house I'm in, I think what ever it is I'll enjoy it." Lucinda Bones said wisely. "Well, I've always wanted Ravenclaw." Ginger Waters said, crossing her legs and leaning back against the seat. "Blue is the only colour that really goes well with my hair." she said, twirling a carrot coloured curl. "Well, I'll go for Slytherin any day as long as I'm not in Hufflepuff." Trinity Warrington said, imitating Ginger's crossed legs. "I don't think I could stand it if I were with those type. Everyone knows they're all bumbling idiots who couldn't fit into any of the other real houses." he smirked.

"My mum was a Hufflepuff." came a voice from the doorway and the girl's turned round to see a scowling Teddy Lupin leaning against the doorframe. Trinity turned beet read, and wouldn't meet anyone's eyes as Teddy took in the sight. He finally looked to Victoire. "The trolley showed up and you weren't back yet so I figured I'd better come looking for you. We'll be waiting when you feel like enjoying some real company." he said, glaring at Trinity. His hair during the conversation had turned a dark red, showing his discomfort of the situation, but it quickly changed back to turquoise as he nodded to the rest of the girls. "Ladies." he said before closing the door and disappearing down the corridor.

There was an uncomfortable silence while the girls took in what had just happened. Finally, Olivia turned to Victoire and shocked her when she saw the grin on her face.

"Who was _that?_" she whisper-shrieked, and the rest of the girls except Trinity split into grins. "My God Weasley, we're not even at Hogwarts yet and you've already got the most gorgeous boyfriend on the train!"

Victoire turned scarlet in front of them all. "Oh, no, he's not my boyfriend!" she exclaimed hastily. "That's just Teddy, he's my best friend, I've known him all my life-"

"So he's single?" Olivia asked, her eyes lighting up in a way that made Victoire uneasy.

"Um... I don't think he's looking." she put blatantly.

"Did you see that _hair?_" Ginger whispered dramatically, her finger winding around her curl at a much faster speed now then before. "I've never seen anyone like that, he was just... just..."

"Gorgeous." Lucinda sighed, trying to get a look out the compartment door. "What house is he in?" she asked Victoire.

"Gryffindor." she said, deciding she didn't like the attention Teddy was getting at all, and started to wonder if it was like this with all the girls.

"Well in that case, I hope I'm there!" Lucinda laughed. "Screw happiness, I'd be fine in whichever house with that boy!" The rest of the girls fell into fits of giggles all except for Trinity who glared at Victoire, clearly blaming her for why Teddy had barged into the room.

"I think I'd better go follow him, he didn't sound too happy." Victoire said, getting up from her seat.

"Come find us at Sorting!" Marcy called, waving goodbye. "Yes, find us at Sorting!" the rest of the girls echoed, and Victoire gave a half hearted wave before scurrying down the hall and sliding back into her compartment.

"Where were you? We had to guess on your favorite snacks." was the greeting she got by Sean as she took her old seat next to Teddy. By the inquiry in his voice Victoire took it Teddy hadn't told the others about what he'd just seen.

"Just getting acquainted." he said briskly, reaching over and grabbing a box of Berty Botts Every Flavored beans. She cast a side glance at Teddy who busy reading the back of a chocolate frog card and wouldn't look up to meet her eyes.

Without the other boys seeing, she reached over and squeezed his hand.

_I'm sorry _she tried to say, and when he squeezed back and smiled at her, forgiveness in his eyes, she knew what he meant: _It's okay. I know you weren't a part of it. _

"I just hate it when people are so prejudice towards other houses." he murmured so only Victoire could hear. She had to stop herself from mentioning that only a few hours ago, he had stated that there was no house better then Gryffindor, but she decided it wasn't exactly the moment. Popping a bean into her mouth she grimaced and he laughed.

"What'd you get?" Clyde asked, grabbing the box from her and pulling out a bright yellow bean. "Grass." she said sticking out her tongue to reveal a green stain.

"Ha, you think that's bad! Jensen got an earthworm flavored one a minute ago!"

Victoire laughed. "How'd that taste?"

"You don't wanna know." he replied, and the room laughed. Suddenly the group felt a lurch.

"We're coming into the station!" Sean exclaimed excitedly. "Get your robes on!"

The group scrambled to pull the black fabric over their heads just as the corridors began to flood with students in various garments. The group of five soon joined them and they moved through the crowd swiftly. Once out in the cold night air, Victoire heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years, over 'ere! Firs' years, this way!"

"That'll be Hagrid." Teddy said, standing at Victoire's side. "I'll see you in the castle then I guess."

"Yeah." she replied, taking a final glance at him. "See you in there." She turned to face Hagrid and the lake which now stretched out in front of them.

"Oh yeah, and Victoire?"

She turned round to see Teddy a few feet away, students rushing past to get to the carriages.

"Good luck."


	6. The Sorting

**Hello hello, I just want to thank you all for the great reviews :)**

**I'm just gonna say that this story isn't gonna stay with them as kids forever, there'll be a bit of an age jump in a chapter or two. So please keep with it! Again, thanks so much for reading and reviews are always welcome!**

The sky above the lake was clear of all clouds, so Victoire could make out Orion as she Marcy in the rowboat that took them across the lake. Hagrid had greeted her like an old friend at the boats, and she'd gotten a couple odd stares from the other new students who seemed to be slightly frightened of the lovable half giant. Promptly afterwards she had spotted Olivia and the others and caught up with them in the boats. She was currently sharing one with Lucinda and Ginger as well as Marcy, thankful that they'd had no room for Trinity and that she'd had to catch the next one with Olivia.

Hogwarts castle loomed above them in the light from the lanterns and some magical glow.

_Teddy was right_, she thought. _It's everything I imagined it to be. Everything and more. _

The boat bumped against a dock and the girls were jarred out of their fantasies as the group of first years started their hurried walk towards the castle doors. Victoire paused slightly as she reached the threshold leading across the entrance to the castle, savoring the moment. _This is my first step into Hogwarts- Oomf!_

Someone had pushed her from behind and she had stumbled into the side room with the other first years. Her head whipped around and she caught sight of Trinity Warrington taking particular interest in her cuticles. A flood of dislike rushed through her and she hurried along after Marcy.

Standing in a cluster, the group of students suddenly looked left to see a tall slender woman walking into the room. Her robes were a shimmering sky blue, her brown hair laced with gray as she wandered across the hall to the group of new students. "Thank you Hagrid, we'll see you in the Great Hall." she said in a strong Oxford accent, nodding to the half giant who bowed his head. "Always a pleasure Professa' Nottwood."

"Welcome to Hogwarts." she said, taking in the group of students. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

Little did Victoire know it, but this was the exact same speech Professor McGonagall had given Harry, Ron and Hermione on their first day at Hogwarts.

"I suppose this is where the Sorting Hat comes in." Marcy whispered to Victoire, who nodded nervously as the Professor Nottwood opened the large oak doors and led them into the great hall.

Victoire's first thought was how many people there were. Four long tables, jammed packed with students trying to get a glimpse of the new arrivals. Victoire caught a glimpse of Teddy's bright hair at the table closest to the right wall as she approached the head table. Feeling a rush of nerves, she looked up towards the ceiling to see that there was no ceiling at all! All she saw were the stars from outside and thousands of floating candles.

Professor Nottwood was lining the students up as neatly as she good, before she disapeared to fetch a dirty old hat from Headmistress McGonagall, who's black hair had turned to silver as she looked on over the new first years. Her eyes lingered on Victoire for a moment, making her swallow nervously, before they flitted back up to the hat.

Suddenly, a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth- and the hat started to sing:

_Some many hundred years ago_

_When I was just a hat,_

_When witches, wizards roamed the streets_

_Not knowing bat from rat,_

_I watched them wander lost and sad,_

_Not finding their true self_

_I couldn't help them learn their ways_

_Sitting upon my shelf._

_So as you know, good Gryffindor, _

_did whisk me off his head. _

_He finally put some brains in me,_

_So I'd help you instead. _

_I might put you in Ravenclaw,_

_If you've the proper mind,_

_For wizards with good wit and skill_

_It's home there they will find._

_You might be placed in Gryffindor,_

_Where courage is admired_

_Those daring Gryffindor's are strong_

_With much to be desired_

_Or perhaps in good Hufflepuff_

_Those caring folk do dwell_

_With loyalty and patience _

_It is there where they excel._

_Maybe you're needing Slytherin_

_Where cunning holds it's pride_

_Those knowing Slytherins do see_

_That it's their time to bide. _

_So pull me down around your ears,_

_I promise I don't bite._

_You'll learn a lot in your own way,_

_It's all starting tonight!_

The hall erupted into cheers and applauds as the hat once to all four tables and finally once to the head.

"When I call your name, you will come up, put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." Professor Nottwood said, holding a list of parchment which she then began to read off of.

"Able, Nathan!"

A blonde boy covered in freckles shuffled nervously up to the hat, put in on and waited.

"SLYTHERIN!" Boomed the hat, and the Slytherin table cheered as they gained a new member.

"Addison, Violet!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

And so on.

"Blunt, Olivia!"

Olivia walked confidently up to the stool, sat down and ran her hands over her robes before placing the had on her head. Not minute passed before it shouted out:

"SLYTHERIN!"

Olivia rushed gleefully over to her new table, casting the other girls a grin, relieved to have gotten it over with first.

"Bones, Lucinda!"

Lucinda stepped up to the stood nervously and put the hat on her head. She sat there a full minute before it finally called:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Victoire felt a pang of jealousy as Lucinda ran to the Gryffindor table and sat down in the empty spot beside Teddy she knew he'd been saving for her. She beamed at him and the jealousy suddenly turned to spite.

More and more students were sorted and the closer Victoire got to the front of the line, the more nervous she became.

She had time to smile at Marcy, trying to cover the growing envy inside her as she was sorted into Gryffindor. She watched as "Sparks, Regina" and "Stebbins, Liam were sorted to Ravenclaw, "Summerby, Joseph" was sorted to Hufflepuff, and eventually had to watch "Warrington, Trinity" be sorted into Slytherin where she slid herself into the seat next to Olivia's beaming sourly.

"Waters, Ginger." Professor Nottwood called, and Ginger who was in the spot ahead of Victoire gave her a nervous smile before rushing up the steps to the hat.

What if she was in Slytherin? Victoire worried. What would her father say? What would Teddy say? She tried to console herself that they would accept her for whichever house she was sorted into, but all she could think of was Gryffindor.

"RAVENCLAW!" The hat boomed, and Ginger skipped over to the table, her orange hair flying behind her.

"Weasley, Victoire!"

Victoire unsteadily walked her way up to the stool as someone in the audience whooped. She had forgotten how well known the Weasley name was, and as the Gryffindor table began to cheer extra loudly, she remembered that there hadn't been a Weasley in her family that had not been sorted into Gryffindor. This information should have calmed her, but instead it simply made her more nervous about that hat's decision.

She took her seat on the stool, and as the hat was dropped over her head, her vision was only of the inside of it's brim.

_I must say,_ chuckled a voice in her left ear. _It has been a rather long time since a Weasley has had me on their head, although I didn't expect to see the last of you. _

Victoire gulped nervously.

_But there's something different here..._ The hat whispered into her right ear this time. _There's bravery, yes, much bravery... but there is so much more... thoughts and charm I see... kindness and cunning... you seem to have all the traits of a good witch already... but I can only put you in one house I'm afraid..._

Victoire had her hands clenched so tightly together she could feel her nails biting into the palms of her hands.

_But which to choose... hmm... better be..._

And with a final booming voice, the hat shouted out the name of Victoire's true chosen house:

"RAVENCLAW!"

**So what did you think? It took me awhile to decide on which house she would be in myself, but I'm glad with the choice I made :) Were you surprised? Was it well hidden or did you see it coming? I wrote the Sorting Hat's song myself, so I hope you enjoy that, and I'm on a roll right now, so I'll be updating soon!**

**Cheers!**

**-Cal**


	7. Forgive and Forget

The Ravenclaw table exploded with cheers, as Victoire stood staring blankly out into the sea of faces. Her eyes sought out Teddy, who's mouth was completely agape, his eyes staring blankly back at hers.

"Ms. Weasley, you may join your house now." Professor Nottwood murmured in her ear, and she pulled herself out of her immediate shock enough to seat herself down beside Ginger and Liam Stebbins at the Ravenclaw table. Several of the students clapped her on the back and offered words of encouragement but she felt nothing, only hollowness at the knowledge that she would never, ever, be a Gryffindor.

After the final sorting only a moment later, the table was soon flooded with food, and Victoire only stirred because she was so hungry. Tucking in to chicken and peas, mashed potatoes and gravy and a full glass of pumpkin juice, she had time to realize just how alone she was. Over at the Gryffindor table Marcy and Lucinda were laughing with other students, and even Teddy was slowly loosing that look of confusion as he ate.

"Cheer up, Vicki, Ravenclaw's a great house!" Ginger said happily, the occasional speck of food flying from her mouth as she spoke.

"Don't call me Vicki." she replied quietly, as those around her continued to enjoy the day that Victoire had thought would be her happiest.

As the hour passed and the students of Hogwarts ate their fill, the tables finally started to clear and it was announced that the prefects would lead the first years to their new dormitories.

Victoire trailed behind the group, Liam Stebbins checking back occasionally to see if she was in tow although she hadn't spoken a work to him before. They reached the moving staircases and she did have to let in a moment of awe as she "Ooohed" at the castle's magic along with the other first years. Following them up, up and up they climbed floor after floor going to, Victoire guessed, Ravenclaw tower. But they didn't go all the way up. Instead the prefect leading them, a tall black girl named Tara Roberts, took a swift right and led the group down a small, almost hidden passage way to a tightly winding spiral staircase. As Victoire looked up, she saw it went up for quite some time and heaving a sigh, she followed the group.

Finally at the top of the stairs, the students gathered tightly together on a small platform before a tall door with neither handle nor keyhole. Instead there was a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. The first years stared at it quizzically until Tara stepped forward and the eagle opened it's mouth. In a melodious tone, the eagle spoke:

_No legs I have to dance_

_No lungs I have to breathe_

_No life I have to live or die_

_Yet I do all three_

_What am I?_

"Fire." Tara Roberts answered respectfully.

"Well done." spoke the knocker, as the door clicked and swung open for the students. She turned round to the first years and explained; "To enter the Ravenclaw common room, you have to answer a riddle. If you get it wrong, you have to wait until someone else comes along to answer it correctly. Follow me..."

Tara stepped into the common room, and even thought Victoire had been dreaming of Gryffindor for so long, she couldn't help but gasp.

The circular room, not unlike other common rooms she imagined, was decorated with blue and bronze silk wall hanging all around. The carpet was a deep rich blue with a occasional star embroidered on it and stretched across the wide room. But what really had Victoire stunned by the beauty of the room was the tall domed ceiling with it's intricate painting of the stars spread out over it. Across from the door the walls were lined with graceful arched windows that provided an astounding look of the mountains. The room was full of small second levels and there were bookcases, tables and large blue armchairs as well as love seats everywhere. A roaring fire was off to one side in a great stone hearth, and the common room was slowly filling with the other students heading off to bed through an archway that sat beside a large statue of Rowena Ravenclaw across from the entrance.

Victoire followed Ginger through the arch and up another smaller spiral staircase to their new dormitory, where there were five beds in total in the spherical room, each with a window on either side. The three other girls were already settling into the four poster beds where their trunks were located. Victoire spotted hers to her right, one of the ones closest to the door. At least she had a window she wouldn't have to share with anyone. She noticed that the trunks had been put in alphabetical order around the room and that her bed was beside Ginger's. The bed directly across from the door was occupied by a soft haired brunette Victoire briefly recognized as Regina Sparks from the sorting, but the other two beds to the left had girls Victoire didn't recognize.

She didn't have to wait long for introductions though, because the girl who's bed was opposite Victoire's sprang up from her bed and crossed the room, shoulders back, hand extended and walked right up to Victoire.

"Melanie Atkinson." she said, as Victoire shook her hand, the girl's honey blonde hair bouncing from the impact of her steps. "This is my cousin, Jolene." she said, nodding to the final girl, brown eyed with black hair, who nodded to the other girls in the room.

"I don't know about all of you, but I think this year is going to be phenomenal." Melanie said rather loudly, as the other girls exchanged started expressions. "I can't wait for our times tables tomorrow, I really can't. But I think we'd all better get some rest now, so goodnight."

A bit put off by this strange introduction, Melanie Atkinson climbed into bed, blowing out the candle on her night table and leaving the other girls to do the same.

Victoire waited until she knew all the other girls were asleep before she wrote her letter.

Her hand shook as she did, her neat scrawl becoming slightly sloppy with the movements. She had two letters to write. One to her family, and a second to Teddy. She hadn't a clue what to write to either of them, but when she started with the one to her parents her feelings came gushing out:

_Dear Maman and Daddy, _

_ You wanted me to write to talk about my first day at Hogwarts. But the truth is, I don't know if I can manage to write anything tonight. Nothing went as planned, and now I think Teddy's furious at me. He must be, he had been so excited, almost as much as I had been. But everything has changed. Daddy, I'm so sorry. I was sorted into Ravenclaw! I let down the whole family, I'm the first Weasley not to be in Gryffindor, and I'm so sorry. I wanted it, but I guess wanting it wasn't enough. _

_ Maman, je me sans si terrible, presque malade! J'espere que tu n'est pas fache avec moi, j'espere que tu vais toujours m'aimer. _

_ All my love, _

_ Victoire_

Her hands shook as she sealed the envelope and started the letter to Teddy.

_Teddy,_

_ I don't know what to say to you, as I can't help but feel that I've let you down. I know we had a lot of plans for this year, and others, but I guess they just won't happen. I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad at me. I guess I just wasn't right to be a Gryffindor after all._

_ Hopefully still your friend, _

_ Victoire _

Sealing both the envelopes, she performed a quick spell she'd learnt before arriving that would call an owl from the owlery.

"_Hibou Mortimus"_ she whispered, her wand pointed out the window. In a moment Vesper appeared, and she tied her letters onto his extended leg.

"Take the second one to Teddy and then go straight to Maman and Dad." she told him, and he nipped her finger affectionately before soaring out into the night sky.

Loosing all feeling of hope, she fell into her bed, exhausted.

She was just drifting off into sleep when she heard a tap at the window. Rolling over and opening her eyes a crack, she caught sight of Jinx, Teddy's owl. In a flurry, she nearly fell out of bed on her way to opening the window.

Jinx fluttered in with a small note clutched in her beak, and dropped in in front of her so Victoire could pick it up and read it:

_Toire,_

_ How could you think I'd be mad at you? I will never be mad at you for something I know wasn't your fault. A Ravenclaw is just who you are, I guess, and I could never hate someone for being themselves. Come to the Gryffindor common room tomorrow at five tomorrow and we'll catch up. It's behind the portrait of the fat lady in pink on the seventh floor. The password is "Juniper". _

_Teddy_

_ P.S. Of course I'm still your friend, how could you even think that! I'll see you tomorrow. _

Victoire felt a surge of relief as she read that Teddy still liked her. And that she'd go see him tomorrow! Suddenly wrapped in a feeling of calm, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

**So how was that? A bit short, I know. I'm going camping this weekend, so I won't have the next chapter up until Monday at least, but I'll be plotting it out!**

**Cheers, **

**Cal**


	8. A Friendly Fiend

The following morning in the great hall, Victoire sat eagerly between Ginger and Regina Sparks, one of the girls from her dormitory. As the students of Hogwarts piled in for breakfast, Victoire bounced up and down in her seat, awaiting anxiously for five o'clock when she would proceed to the Gryffindor common room. As she picked at her breakfast, she heard a girl's snickering voice behind her at the Slytherin table.

"...looks like she's constipated, she's bouncing so much." snorted Trinity Warrington, casting a poisonous look at Victoire as she giggled with some new found Slytherin friends. Trinity's brown hair was pulled back from her sallow face with a hairband that had a big black bow on it, and her ears were studded with pearls Victoire had sworn she'd seen in Diagon Alley.

Blushing scarlet, she consoled herself before turned to Ginger.

"I'm so glad I didn't get any pearl jewelry when in Diagon Alley." she commented to Ginger, who had overheard Trinity's cruel comment and was playing along. "Apparently they were all cursed by goblins this year to make the wearer reek worse then dragon dung."

Ginger giggled at the comment, and to make the mark sting even worse, Regina looked back at Trinity and covered her nose. "Smells like that rumor's true." she added, and Victoire grinned at this girl she was sure would be her new friend.

But they didn't have long to enjoy their meal before an ancient Professor Flitwick came their way, trotting across the stone floor towards the girls.

"Ah, first years. Lovely, lovely. Welcome to Ravenclaw girls." he squeaked, and with a wave of his wand their timetables were printed out elegantly on the parchment he handed them.

"Charms next." Ginger mused, looking over the schedule and then sighing heavily. "And double potions with the Slytherins tomorrow, what a way to start of the year."

"But we've got double transfiguration with the Gryffindors after lunch!" Victoire exclaimed excitedly looking forward to the opportunity to talk with Marcy and Lucinda again. So with a last bite to eat, the girls picked up their things and headed off to class.

Walking along the corridor to Charms, Victoire was exhilarated. She was at Hogwarts, Teddy wasn't mad at her, and she already had two good friends in her own house! So what if she wasn't in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw was so far turning out to be a great house. She was so caught up in these thoughts that she didn't even notice the boy coming towards her around the corner until she smashed into them and both their books went flying as they stumbled to the ground. Victoire immediately blushed deeply and hurried herself with picking up her papers.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going..." she mumbled, not looking up at the boy she'd walked into, until she reached for her copy of _The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1,_ and both their hands grabbed it at once. Looking up on instinct, she froze.

Across from her in the hall was a boy she'd never seen before. She would have remembered meeting him, that she was sure of. He had shaggy brown hair, the opposite of Teddy's, who's bright teal hair stuck up in all directions, and dark blue eyes. Their gazes met and neither moved for a moment, until he blinked and looked away, causing her to blush even harder.

"It was my fault, really." he said, standing up and handing her her textbook, their fingers brushing causing her to bite her lip self consciously.

"First day?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow and smiling at her, causing something in her stomach to flutter.

"Yeah, I mean yes. Yes." she said, mentally kicking herself for her childishness.

"You'll get the hang of it." he smiled, and that was when she noticed the green and silver tie he wore protruding from under his robes. _A Slytherin. _She thought, surprised.

"I hope so." she beamed. "I'm Victoire, by the way." she added, figuring she may as well dive in head first.

"Max Northwick." he said, offering his hand, which she shook shyly. They heard voices up ahead, and he looked over her head. "Those are my mates." he said apologetically. "See you around?"

"Yeah, definitely." she said, and they nodded goodbyes as he disappeared around the corner. She hurried then to catch up with Ginger and Regina, both she had been watching with raised brows.

"Olivia was right about you." Ginger smirked as they walked into Charms. "You really do have all the luck with boys."

"Shut up." Victoire said, whacking her arm with her textbook, but still smiling as they took their seats and prepared for their first lesson.

Their last class for the day, as promised by the schedule, was Transfiguration. Victoire wasn't sure who would be teaching it as she settled into her seat surrounded by other students. Headmistress McGonagall had apparently done so for quite sometime, and Teddy had never actually mentioned it. She didn't have this class with Ginger or Regina, but she caught sight of Marcy and Lucinda and waved them over to her table.

"Hello you, we were wondering if we had this class together." Marcy beamed, dropping her books noisily onto the table as Lucinda placed hers down gracefully beside her.

"Any clue who's teaching?" Victoire asked, straining to see towards the head of the room, when suddenly the lights in the classroom went out. The class fell silent, as a single candle fluttered to life at the front of the chamber, and a tall figure stepped out of the back room.

"Transfiguration." came a low, brooding voice. "Is an art witches and wizards have practiced for years. It has saved many lives, and it tell many tales."

The light came back on, and there stood a tall man with wavy brown hair and horn-rimmed glasses that reminded her strongly of her Uncle Percy's.

"That's Professor Carnlee," Lucinda whispered softly. "My dad told me about him, he used to be an auror before they let him go for turning all the desks into moose for laughs."

Victoire stifled a giggle, but Lucinda's face was serious. "True story."

The next hour and a half was interesting to say the least, with Professor Carnlee walking swiftly around the room talking loudly about the art of transfiguration as the class scrambled to take notes on everything that was quickly changing on the enchanted blackboard.

"My wrist is exhausted, I don't think I've ever written so many notes in my life." complained Marcy, as the group exited the classroom with homework to write a whole essay on the history of transformation and the wonders it's done for the wizarding world.

"He's completely mad." Victoire agreed.

The girls walked happily out into the autumn sun as the school slowly started draining of students all looking to get a bit of fresh air after a long first day. The trio sat themselves down by the lake and started discussing other classes animatedly, and soon saw Olivia walking cross the grass to join them.

"Hello, fun times in class I hear." she laughed, plopping down beside Victoire, not minding that her robes were getting wet on the dew.

"You could have warned us, you had him first thing this morning." smiled Lucinda.

"I thought I'd leave it as a surprise." she grinned.

Suddenly, Victoire caught sight of a familiar brunette exiting the castle. Max Northwick walked along the grounds accompanied by several male friends, all laughing and shoving each other. They were headed right in their direction.

"What are you staring at, Toire?" Marcy asked, following Victoire's gaze and then smiling knowingly.

"Ooh someone's got good taste." Olivia said, and before Victoire could stop her, she let out a loud whistle. Max and his friends all glanced over towards them and Victoire buried her face in her hands red with embarrassment. To make matters worse, they started to approach them.

"Oh God, look what you've done you twat!" Victoire groaned, kicking Olivia, but the Slytherin girl just ignored her.

"Hey Max." she said, greeting the boy as an old friend, and Victoire looked up in surprise.

"Hey Olivia." he said, his half grin appearing again as his eyes turned to Victoire.

"Nice to see you again, Victoire." he added, and she smiled weakly.

"You two know each other?" Olivia asked, looking back and forth between the two.

"You might say Max and I had a bit of a run in earlier today." Victoire said, brushing the hair out of her face and feeling a bit of courage as she spoke. Max laughed, which only boosted it even more.

"Quite literally." he added. "Well, I'll see you around. 'Livia. 'Toire." he said, and continued on his way, nodding to both of them in goodbye. Once he was out of earshot, all the girls turned on Victoire.

"Tell us everything." Olivia demanded. "Now."

It hadn't taken long for Victoire to explain to her friends the story of how she'd met Max Northwick, and she'd listened excitedly as Olivia had explained everything she knew about him.

"He's a second year, just like your friend Teddy." she said, chewing animatedly on a piece of Drooble's Best Bubble Gum. "Really popular among Slytherins. Nice, charming, likes a good laugh. He's amazing on the Quiddich pitch apparently but he hasn't shown any interest in joining the team. He's quite modest."

All these thoughts and more in her head, Victoire walked throughout the halls with Marcy and Lucinda who had insisted everyone start calling her Luce, ("Lucinda makes me sound like someone's grandmother.") on her way to the Gryffindor common room for five o'clock. The girls finally approached the portrait of the pink lady, and as Marcy spoke the password and the portrait hole was revealed, Victoire took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The Gryffindor common room was amazing, but in several different ways then the Ravenclaw one. This room seemed someone smaller, but warmer and more like the burrow, with it's cosy red armchairs by the fireplace and the windows looking out over the grounds, it made her long for a home cooked meal and a game of two on two Quiddich in the orchard.

She caught sight of Teddy immediately, crouched over a table with Clyde, Sean and Jensen all of whom seemed to be playing a game of realistic hangmen with a set from Uncle George's shop. She wandered over to the boys who hadn't noticed her yet, and looked over at the words they were trying to guess.

"How bout a P, a Q and an F?" she suggested as the word before them turned from:

Turni , a le  to Turnip Quaffle.

The boys whirled round to see her, and it made Victoire's heart swell to see the grin on Teddy's face as he hugged her tightly.

Yes, she finally felt as if she were home.

"So how was your first day?" Teddy asked, as the group sat at the Gryffindor table for dinner in the Great Hall. Victoire had been invited to sit with them much to her delight, and her Ravenclaw friend's hadn't taken any offense, so all was well. "Carnlee's a nutter isn't he?" he asked, elbowing Victoire in the ribs as she swallowed a piece of potato.

"Completely bonkers." she nodded. They'd talked loads, she'd told him about her new friends and they'd exchanged timetables so they knew where they could meet up between classes. Things were going well until Marcy, who was eating with them, brought up the subject of the day's previous encounter.

"We met this boy today, Victoire seemed to know him rather well, surprised us all really."

"Was he Gryffindor? I might know him." Teddy asked, mouth half full of treacle tart.

"He was Slytherin actually." Victoire said, munching on her pudding. "His name was Max Northwick-"

But she didn't have time to finish her sentence because the second she'd spoken his name, Teddy had started choking on his tart and Sean had to thump him rather hard on the back so he'd recover. He swallowed and looked at Victoire, half befuddled, half frustrated.

"Max Northwick?" he said. "How the hell do you know him?"

"Bumped into him on my way to Charms this morning, he seemed nice." Victoire said, bewildered by his sudden change in attitude. "Why? You don't like him?"

"Let's just say his last name rhymes with prick for a reason..." Teddy mumbled as Clyde let out a loud laugh.

"Well what did he do to you?" she asked, wanting a good reason to dislike him when all she thought of at his name was that smile.

"Bloody wouldn't stop giving me a hard time about my parents would he?" he said, as his friends nodded in approval.

"A right pansy." Sean added.

"Sodding wanker." Clyde laughed.

"He wasn't very nice, no." Jensen said calmly, taking a drink of pumpkin juice.

"If you want my advice," Teddy said, tapping her hand and stealing a bite of her pie, "just stay away from him. Besides," he stated, gesturing to the room of happy people around him. "You've got Hogwarts and all of us to keep you company." he said grinning, and suddenly all thoughts of Max Northwick left her mind as she remembered it was only her very first day of Hogwarts.

**First off I want to say thanks to you all, I've been getting really great feedback on this story! All of you are amazing! Also, unfortunately it might take me a little longer to update because I want to work on my other FF, and I'm going to be away from August 1st to 10th, so I won't be able to add anything there. I'll be trying to fit as much in before then as I can though. Again, thanks for the amazing feedback, faves, alert and reviews. **

**xx**

**-Cal**


	9. Unwanted Affection

**Hi everyone! So again, thanks so much for all the faves and reviews it really means a lot. I don't know if I mentioned that the reason I named the story "Children of Wolves" is because both Teddy and Victoire's fathers were victim of some sort of werewolf attack. Just a little fact there.**

**Also I want to let you know that we're doing a bit of a time jump here in the story, fast forwarding to Victoire's fourth year at Hogwarts. Enjoy!**

Victoire Weasley stepped out into the gleaming sunshine, accompanied by her best friend Teddy, as well as Sean, Jensen and Clyde.

It was exactly three years after her first week at Hogwarts, and Victoire was more then ready to start her fourth year.

"When are Quiddich tryouts again?" asked Sean as he joined the group in the sun, all five of them clutching broomsticks.

"Wednesday." Teddy said, his turquoise hair and lopsided grin giving him the perfect image of nonchalance. At fifteen years old, Teddy Lupin had grown to a good five foot ten and was still sprouting. Victoire clutched her broom tightly and turned to the boys.

"Well it's just after four now, so we've got about two hours to get your training in." she said to Teddy, as she walked across the grounds followed by the boys to the empty Quiddich pitch.

Out of all of Teddy's friends, Victoire was the best of them at Quiddich, followed closely by Jensen but in different ways. Ever since his first year, he'd had his heart set on making the Quiddich team. Now at fifteen, after many failed attempts he'd finally asked Victoire that past summer to lend him a hand. She'd happily given him hours of flying tips and marked his skills, but even she didn't feel good enough. So together the two went to Ginny and Harry, both spectacular Quiddich players and they had taught them through the summer, watching as the two of them versed each other, each competitive streak outweighing the others.

It was still their first week of school, but Victoire and Jensen had agreed to help Teddy practice for tryouts the following week, hoping along with him that he'd get the open position of Chaser.

"You're going to be beyond busy if you make the team you know." Victoire commented as they arrived at the pitch, dropping their bags down on the soft grass, the setting sun gleaming through one of the Quiddich rings. "You'll have to manage practice, and homework and games, not to mention you've got your O.W.L.s this year..."

"God, Toire you sound like aunt Hermione." Teddy laughed, mounting his new Nimbus 3000, the newest model Nimbus had out that year. Victoire rolled her eyes and got on her Nimbus 2000, the same she'd always had, and together they kicked off into the air. In a matter of moments they were racing each other in laps around the pitch, their laughing ricocheting loudly around the stands.

"They're mad they are." Sean commented, kicking off with his friends as they went to join them in the sky.

"Alright." Victoire said, clapping her hands together, her silvery blonde hair tied in a messy ponytail as she leaned back on her broom. "Clyde's keeper, Jensen and I will be opposing Chasers and Sean's on your team because he's rubbish at Quiddich."

Sean shot her a glare across the field as the rest of them laughed and Victoire stuck her tongue out.

"You're trying to score as many points as you can in the next ten minutes. Go!"

In a blur of speed, the players came alive. Victoire tossed the quaffle to Jensen as he hurtled down the pitch, whipping it back across to Victoire, but suddenly Teddy was there, having zoomed in between them right down the middle, quaffle tucked firmly under his arm, grin stretched wide across his face. Victoire pulled a u-turn and kicked on the speed as she lined herself directly beside Teddy, and turned into him shoving him with her elbow. Startled, the did a full flip and dropped the quaffle, which Jensen automatically caught and took off towards the opposite rings.

"Come on Lupin, you know Slytherin'll be playing dirtier then that!" Victoire called across the field in his direction. But he wasn't there! He'd already elbowed Jensen in the side, sending him falling off his broom and the next thing they knew he'd scored on Clyde.

"Cocky little bugger isn't he?" Jensen commented, hoisting himself back onto his Cleansweep as Victoire slid up beside him and they watched as Teddy did a victory lap of the stadium. "Yeah, but we can always fix that." she said, before cupping her hands around her mouth and yelling: "HEY DUNG SNIFFER! LET'S SEE YOU DO THAT AGAIN!"

An hour and a half had passed when Victoire looked down to see a group of familiar shadows crossing the lawn. She then heard an even more familiar whistle and she waved back to her friends who stood several feet below them.

Once the group had landed, they walked over to Ginger, Luce and Marcy all who were bundled in hats and scarves to protect themselves against Hogwart's cold autumns.

Three years later, all the girls had changed. Ginger had grown out of her baby fat as well as some of her vanity and now actually had quite a smart wit as well as even brighter orange hair. Marcy had grown taller and tanner, her toned body fit from muggle football she'd spent her summers playing with her cousins. But it was maybe Lucinda who'd changed the most, and Victoire couldn't quite decide if she liked it or not. Luce had grown to a good five foot seven, an inch taller then Victoire and her honey blonde hair had become even more fine, her teeth even straighter then when she'd last seen them. But the thing that bothered her most, was how Luce had begun acting around Teddy whenever she saw him. And how he acted around her in return.

"It's nearly time for dinner, we thought we'd come get you." Marcy said kindly, sidling up beside her friends and handing Victoire her black coat she'd left in the stands. Victoire nodded in thanks and turned her attention discreetly to Teddy who had just landed.

"Hello ladies." he said charmingly, and Victoire rolled her eyes at his tone. He noticed and shoved her arm lightly, picking up his jacket from the grass and shaking off the dew.

His sea green eyes flitted up to Lucinda who was eyeing him just as flirtatiously, and he cracked a grin. "Hey Luce." he said, and she giggled causing Clyde to make a vomiting gesture behind his back. Victoire stifled a laugh as the Teddy and Lucinda started making their way back to the castle together, clearly forgetting their other friends behind them.

"Unbelievable..." Victoire said, only half joking as she reached down to pick up his broom he'd just left there. When she straightened up she noticed Ginger was busy striking up a conversation with Sean, while Marcy joked about something with Clyde that seemed to involve a lot of miming.

"Let me take that." Jensen said, coming up behind her and wrapping his hand around the broom.

"Thanks." she said, casting a final glance ahead at her best friend, who seemed to have wrapped his arm round Luce's shoulders.

"Worried 'bout him?" Jensen asked brushing her shoulder with his as the group started milling back towards the school.

"Not really." she replied, looking up and suddenly catching herself. His eyes were honestly so bright. She'd never seen anything like it besides in her with her Uncle Harry and cousin Albus. Shaking herself out of her daze, she trudged along beside him, their group coming together. "I just don't know if his head is in the Quiddich, that's all." she lied. "I know what you mean." he mused, and she raised an eyebrow. "It's hard to concentrate when there are beautiful girls around."

As the group made their way back towards the castle, Victoire couldn't help but stop herself slightly. Was it just her, or had Jensen been looking right in her direction when he'd said that last comment.

**So a bit of a short chapter there, but I'm about to start another one right now :)**

**Remember, Victoire's great grandmother was a Veela, so she does get a lot of admirers. -wink wink- -nudge nudge-. It's about to heat up a bit, so please keep reading!**

**Cheers!**

**-Victoire**


	10. Quiddich Pride

November came quickly to Hogwarts, accompanied by what seemed to be an early winter. Blistering cold and snow covered the grounds turning it into a winter wonderland of sorts. Victoire trudged across the landscape towards the Quiddich pitch, accompanied by Marcy and Ginger to watch the last school match before the winter holidays.

Not long after that first week when she had helped Teddy practice for tryouts, did on the following Wednesday he made the team as on of Gryffindors lead chasers. He had been ecstatic, polishing his broom every day, and always boasting whenever a Quiddich practice ended. He was her best friend, but Victoire couldn't help but find it all a bit tiring at times. On the up side, it seemed that her friendship with the others had grown stronger. They often took turns spending the evenings in each others common rooms and playing four on four games of Quiddich after classes. Clyde really did turn out to be absolutely hilarious, and she could see that Marcy had taken a liking to him, even thought she would never admit it when they asked. Ginger was always hanging around Sean, who although seemed happy by this never really did anything about it, as Victoire later found out that he had zero experience with girlfriends whatsoever.

Something that had changed though, was after Gryffindor's first match that year against Hufflepuff. It had been an amazingly close game, with Victoire cheering on Teddy and Jensen (who happened to have made the team as a beater), loudly from her spot in the stands with Marcy, Ginger, Clyde, Sean and most loudly of all; Lucinda.

Gryffindor had won 140-120 and the party in the common room had been spectacular. Victoire had been having an amazing time, until she had heard a loud wolf whistle and looked up to see Teddy and Luce, arms wrapped round each other, snogging to their hearts content as several other Gryffindors whooped and patted Teddy on the back as the two disappeared into his dorm room.

Even though she'd told Marcy and Ginger numerous times that she was fine, she still hadn't had been able to get the image out of her head for weeks.

The group climbed up into the stands and to the seats that Clyde and Sean had been saving for them as they shivered in their scarves and hats. Todays match was Gryffindor versus Slytherin, a game that they'd been looking forward to for a long time, and as they settled down on the benches and both teams came out the crowd anticipated a game better then any they'd seen before.

"Welcome back to the Hogwarts pitch ladies and gentlemen, today we've got a well awaited game between Gryffindor and Slytherin!" boomed the voice of Pierce Jordan, Lee Jordan's son who was his spitting image as a second year student. "On the Gryffindor side we've got our line up: Keeper! Bette Netwarth! Beaters! Noel Kilman and Jensen Spinnet!"

Victoire and the others whooped loudly from their stands.

"Chasers! Katy Thomas! Brice Jolsbee and Teddy Lupin!" The Gryffindor crowd was going wild, and Luce screamed in admiration while waving a sign that read "Teddy for Captain" much to Victoire's embarrassment. Everyone knew that the new captain was chosen when the current captain chose it, or after they graduated. Brice Jolsbee, the current captain, still had another year left.

"...and seeker, Jenny Mortemor! Now our Slytherin team!" Pierce yelled, reading off the Slytherin players. Victoire could see down below her, her younger sister Dominique as well as her cousins Molly, Fred and Roxanne, all first years. All of them had been sorted into Gryffindor, except, and to everyone's surprise- Roxanne, who had been made Slytherin. She among them cheered for her house team, as the rest hissed and booed.

"...Max Northwick!" called Pierce, finishing off the names of the opposing chasers. At the sound of his name, Victoire looked down into the pitch to see the handsome boy grin and wave, clad in emerald green robes for his team. Ever since her first year when Teddy had headed her warning of Max, she hadn't exactly been unkind to him, but she'd kept their communications to a minimum. It wasn't exactly hard, they just didn't cross paths a lot.

"And they're off!" Pierce cried. "The quaffle taken immediately by Thomas, nice pass to Lupin there and back to Thomas, nice legs on that girl,"

"JORDAN!" came the familiar voice of headmistress McGonagall, who even though she was in charge of the school, didn't think it below herself to keep the second generation of Jordans in check. "...just like your father..." Victoire heard her mutter through the loudspeakers. "Sorry headmistress, just observing the play. And it's still Lupin with the quaffle, he's going, going, OH nice save by the Slytherin keeper. Now it's Richards in possession-"

As the game went on, the score continued to go up evenly between the two teams, causing an edge-of-your-seat sight for the audience.

"Northwick with the quaffle, passes back to Richards, and, oh, no scoring for him, stolen away by Jolsbee, Jolsbee with the quaffle, passes to Lupin, stolen by Bennet! Bennet towards the rings now and OUCH! That's gotta hurt, a bludger in the face curtesy of Jensen Spinnet, blood everywhere, nasty sight-"

Victoire and the others cheered loudly as Jensen was seen flying by, bat held tightly in his hand, grinning ear to ear at the attention.

"Game back in play now, And it's Northwick with the quaffle, he's headed towards the rings, clear open field, takes the shot, Keeper Netwarth dives, misses, SLYTHERIN SCORE!"

The green clad end of the stands went wild, and even though Victoire let out a sigh of frustration on the outside, she couldn't help but feel a surge of pride for Northwick and he did a victory ring around the pitch. It wasn't five minutes later that in a flash of green and red, seeker Carter Darwin for Slytherin caught the snitch inches away from Jenny Mortemor.

As the stands slowly drained of students, cheering Slytherins and defeated Gryffindors alike, Victoire headed back with her friends to the Gryffindor common room, leaving Luce behind to go see Teddy in the change rooms. Victoire didn't mention it to Lucinda, but Teddy always got in a foul mood after losing, and wouldn't be very fun to talk to. She could figure it out for herself.

The Gryffindor common room was quieter that evening, students huddled round the fire finishing essays and observations alike. When Teddy had finally appeared, he had immediately sat down in the empty seat beside Victoire on the couch, leaving Luce to sit across from them in an armchair.

"Chin up." Victoire said, nudging his shoulder. "It's only one game. Besides, remember what's next week?"

Teddy perked up slightly at this reminder. The following week was a Hogsmeade trip, and they'd been looking forward to visiting all year. The date was set for the fourth of December, the following Thursday, and all of them had planned on going shopping and then meeting up at The Three Broomsticks for butterbeers.

"We can go to the Shrieking Shack if you like." she said, more softly this time. The Shrieking Shack had always been a place Teddy visited on trips to Hogsmeade. Out of their group of friends, only the two of them knew the reason it was called the Shrieking Shack- after Teddy's father who had done his transformations there during his years at Hogwarts. The first time they'd visited it together, none of his friends noticed that he grew extremely quiet around the place where his dead father had spent so much time.

Teddy smiled softly at Victoire's offer, and nudged her back, but apparently Victoire hadn't been quiet enough.

"Ooh, I hate it there, it's so frightening." Luce spoke up loudly having heard Victoire's suggestion. Teddy immediately stiffened.

"You don't have to come." he said coldly, not meeting her eyes, but she didn't notice.

"Oh no, it sounds fun! Like an adventure!" she reached across the gap and squeezed Teddy's hand. Victoire closed her eyes and hoped that no matter what, Teddy would never trust this girl with the secret he held so dear. The group finally wrapped up their homework, and with quick goodbyes, Victoire and Ginger headed back to their common room.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Ginger asked her that evening as they got ready for bed. "I know Luce can be a pain sometimes. She's been especially clingy ever since she started dating Teddy, and I know how close you two are." she added.

"I'm fine." Victoire said, forcing a smile. But as she crawled into bed, she couldn't help but wonder why he stayed with her, and if his feelings for her were real.


	11. Sweet as Chocolate

December fourth came quickly, and as the sun rose and shone on the snow, Victoire looked forward to the day ahead. She dressed in dark jeans and a grey shirt, tugging a green cardigan over it, and then her jacket over that as well as she prepared for the day ahead. Slipping on her mid calve high boots, she walked down to the entrance hall along with Ginger, Marcy and Luce to see the boys waiting for them.

"You look nice." Jensen said smiling, his dark jacket and Gryffindor scarf matching perfectly.

"Thanks, you clean up pretty well yourself." she smiled, tying the belt on her black modern trench coat and knotting her blue and bronze scarf. "Shall we go?"

The group of friends trudged through Hogsmeade laughing and pushing each other through the snow as they popped in and out of stores along the way. Teddy and Luce's hands seemed to be permanently intertwined the whole time, but Marcy and Ginger seemed to be making an effort to distract her by throwing snowballs at the back of her head every twelve seconds.

"Ooh, Honeydukes!" Ginger cried, grabbing Sean's arm and pulling him into the shop. "I haven't had good chocolate in _ages, _my mum only sends me muggle sweets!"

They pushed open the door to Honeydukes then, the sugary smell washing over them as they let out a sigh.

"It smells amazing." Marcy beamed, and they separated to different ends of the shop to observe the sweets and pick out what they wanted.

Victoire somehow found herself separated from the group, as she wandered through the shop, observing the shelves and shelves of succulent sweets. She was checking the bright blue and green label of an Acid Pop when she heard a voice from behind her.

"I'd watch it around them, they'll burn a hole right through your tongue."

She turned round to see Max Northwick, dark hair wet with snow, Slytherin scarf draped casually around his shoulders, holding a large back of Fizzing Whizbees. He grinned at her, showing a crooked smile that had charmed half the girls in school. Victoire swallowed as something in her stomach leapt, and she was sure it wasn't the Peppermint Toads.

"Have personal experience with that, do you?" she asked, surprised at how sly the words came out, and his smile widened as he took a step to join her looking through the candies.

"My sister liked to torment me when I was younger." he joked. "You should see some of the scars." With this he stuck out his tongue, and sure enough there was a little circular scar in the center. She let out a laugh.

"So how come I never see you round anymore?" he asked, as they headed towards the counter. "No more books to drop, or have you just become more careful?"

"Oh I don't know, I'd still say I'm a bit of a klutz." she smiled, paying for her back of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Bertie Botts Every-Flavored Beans and pack of Chocolate Frogs.

"Your words, not mine." he said, stepping up to pay for his own things.

"I guess you don't have much time for me anymore now that you're best friends with the star chaser and all." he added slyly.

"Oh, I don't know." she said, surprising herself. Across the street she could see Teddy and Luce walking into Madame Puddifoot's. "I'm starting to think _he's_ the one who doesn't have time for _me_."

"Ouch, another woman?" he asked, mock shock etched on his face. She elbowed him in the ribs, but he didn't flinch. "Besides, with how you played last week I wouldn't say he's the star chaser anymore." she added, not feeling an ounce of guilt for the small insult to Teddy. They were outside the shop now, and she noticed her friends had wandered off to their own amusements.

"What are you doing right now?" he asked suddenly.

She turned to look at him, and saw a strange expression on his face. Admiration mixed with almost... desire.

"Taking a walk with you, of course." she said, entwining her arm with his as she pulled him off along the cobblestone road.

"... and she sprayed the stew all over my gran!" Max finished as the pair of them rocked back and forth with laughter at their table in the corner of The Three Broomsticks. None of her friends had turned up yet, and she was actually grateful for it. She was having a fine time with Max, and she didn't need anyone judging her for hanging out, let alone flirting, with a Slytherin who happened to have beaten her best friend in Quiddich the week before.

"God, your sister sounds awful!" she laughed, as he took a drink of butterbeer across form her. "You should meet her, she'd worse now." he laughed. "That was when she was younger, now she's just as cruel to her husband." he snorted. Under the table, she felt his foot nudge hers, and she smiled into her drink. She nudged his back, and soon enough after their feet linked under the table, their hands found each other as well. Fingers barely touching, no words being spoken, they stared at their fingers as his pinky entwined with hers and she squeezed.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" he asked softly. She nodded her head, and they pushed away from the table, their pinkies still linked together. Out on the street it had gotten colder and darker. The sun was setting ahead of them, and the glare shone brightly in Victoire's eyes. She lifted her hand to shield her face, but no sooner had she done so that Max grabbed her hand and pulled her into a side alley.

Suddenly they were facing each other, rather closely to, her back pressed up against the cold stone wall. All she saw now were his eyes, dark brown, made even darker with the shade and what might have even been desire. They stood facing each other, their breathing suddenly made deeper by the privacy.

"Bit bright out there don't you think?" he murmured, and the next thing she knew he had kissed her.

His lips were soft and warm, and she closed her eyes savoring the feeling as she kissed him back, her hands sliding up to rest on his shoulders, his going to her waist. Their lips moved together, their breathing hot and fast, and her hand moved up to cradle his face, the other entwined in his hair. He pressed her harder against the wall when everything became to much; the kissing, the hands, the cold/hot feeling she was getting in her chest and suddenly there was Teddy's face, branded into her mind as she broke the kiss, chest heaving.

When her eyes focused back on Max, he looked similar, eyes slowly getting lighter, a grin sliding across his face. She suddenly felt lighter, and without a word, leaned in and kissed him quickly on the lips before pulling away.

"I think it's time to head back up to the castle." she said breathlessly, and he laughed.

"I can't believe _that_ is what you chose to say." he teased, sliding his hand into hers and squeezing. "You really are amazing."

She blushed at the complement, as they exited the alley way and headed back up towards the school, the snow crunching under their feet, all thoughts of meeting up with her friends abandoned from Victoire Weasley's head.


	12. Discovered

Victoire's time with Max was greatly amplified on the final days before they were separated for winter break. When she'd returned to the castle the day of the Hogsmeade outing, she'd been the first to arrive to their dorm room. She had just changed into her pajamas when Ginger slammed open the door and stood there panting, like she had just run up the whole spiral staircase that led to the Ravenclaw tower.

"Please tell me..." she started, wild fire in her eyes. "...that what Melanie Atkinson just told me isn't true."

Victoire felt a sudden drop in her stomach, but casually walked around to lie on her bed.

"Well, that depends on what Melanie Atkinson said."

"Don't play innocent! I know you know what I'm talking about!"

"Oh come on, what?"

Ginger walked across the room, and with her eyes wide, whispered;

"Were you really holding hands with Max Northwick in Hogsmeade?"

Victoire didn't say anything, but a small smile graced her face.

"OH MY GOD!" Ginger screamed. "I can't believe it, oh my god, Toire! I can't believe you!"

She couldn't help it, she grinned and started laughing.

"Tell me everything, how the hell did you two even hook up?"

So Victoire told her. About how they'd always seemed to have a connection, their run in at Honeydukes, talking in the Three Broomsticks, and finally kissing in the alleyway.

"Was he a good kisser? I bet he was good, you can just tell with some people by looking at them."

"I don't know, it was my first kiss!" she exclaimed, blushing slightly. "But is seemed pretty good to me." she added, to which the two girls immediately began squealing and jumping up and down.

"Teddy's gonna freak when he finds out." Ginger said later once they'd calmed down and were the last two awake in the hushed dorm room, the three other girls asleep around them, Regina snoring loudly from across the room.

"He won't freak, he won't even notice." Vicoire said, shrugging off the idea of Teddy even glancing her way. "Did you see him today with Luce? I swear, if I see another set of puppy dog eyes I'll eat a flobberworm."

"Yeah, it is getting a bit sickening. They never have time for us anymore." Ginger added.

It was true. Since Teddy had begun dating Luce officially, he seemed to spend more and more time with her, and less and less time with Victoire. She would approach him, only to see him on his way to join Luce at their table. Victoire was slightly hurt, but she wasn't surprised. Luce was tall, blonde, pretty, and in Gryffindor. The most important thing for Teddy.

"But what about Jensen?" Ginger asked, stirring Toire from her thoughts.

"What about him?"

"Well, I dunno. It kind of seemed like the two of you had something going."

Victoire was startled. Jensen; one of Teddy's best friends, always there for her, friendly, athletic, polite. Attractive. She was dumbfounded how she hadn't noticed it before. Was she an complete idiot?

"But of course, you have Max now." Ginger added, and just like that Victoire's thoughts were back on track.

Boarding the train to head home for Christmas was never an easy task. The crowds, the pushing, and saying goodbye to the school for the next few weeks.

She had been spending every waking hour with Max for the past few weeks, and nearly everyone had noticed. Everyone except Teddy.

She was standing on the platform, Max to her left, waiting for the line to the train to shorten so they could board.

"...all I say is god help the muggle." Max finished, referring to his husband in law.

"Well your sister'll hopefully be kept busy with him." Victoire grinned, squeezing his hand as they boarded. She had agreed to spend the first half of the ride with Max, and then she'd go to join her friends for the final stretch.

Sliding into their compartment accompanied by some friends of Max, they started the journey, rolling through the hill that would lead them back to London.

Meanwhile, back in the other's compartment, Victoire's friends were laughing, talking and goofing off. Teddy, who had been whispering with Luce as she giggled profoundly, suddenly looked up.

"Hey... where's Toire?" he asked, looking round their compartment. Suddenly all discussion ceased, and he was left with silence. His eyes flitted over the guilty faces of his friends; Ginger, Sean, Marcy, Clyde, Jensen... she wasn't there.

"Um... I think she went to sit with some others." Ginger said blutly.

"Others? What like, Ravenclaws?"

"I'm not sure." she lied.

"Well, I'll go get her." he said, standing up to his full height and stretching. "She can talk to them later, I hardly see her anymore, she'd never around."

"Here, let me get her-" Marcy said, getting up quickly but Teddy waved her off.

"No no, I'll just be a second." he said, sliding out of the compartment into the hall.

He walked along the corridors, glancing in each compartment for Toire's familiar face.

He rounded a corner and was just about to give up and head back when he heard a laugh coming from the compartment at the end of the hall.

_Toire_, he thought, grinning, and sauntered up to the door, his hand on the handle to pull it open when he froze.

Inside, sat several Slytherins in his year, all whom he recognized. All whom he disliked. Right in the middle of them was Max Northwick.

And Victoire.

On his lap.

Kissing him.

Teddy couldn't move. For minute he couldn't even think, or function. Nothing was processing, he just stood there, watching Max kiss her neck, her cheek, her lips.

Watching her laughing.

Just when he thought he couldn't stand it a second longer, just before we was about to run away, she turned her head and her eyes found him. Their gazes locked.

Suddenly the smile fell from her face and she pushed herself away from Max. Confused, he looked up towards the doors in the direction she was facing and now they took each other in. Teddy stared, aghast. And then, very, very slowly, Max smirked, and winked at him.

Rage. Hot, boiling rage rose like bile in Teddy's throat as he whirled away and stalked back down the corridor, shoving past other students in the hall, his hair flaming red. He slammed open the compartment and watched the shocked looks on his friend's faces as they took him in, eyes ablaze, breathing fast, looking murderous.

"Why the fuck," he stated, glaring around the room. "did nobody tell me."

"Shit! Shit shit shit, oh Merlin..."

Victoire sat beside Teddy now, running her hands through her hair in frustration while Max rubbed her lower back gently.

"Relax, it's not like you need his permission to date someone." he smiled.

"I know, but... things have been different lately. We haven't been talking as much, and I know Teddy, he's going to feel betrayed and hurt and-"

"He's just going to have to learn to deal with it." Max said bluntly, drawing her closer into his arms. You'll have lots of time together over Christmas to calm him down, if he even needs that long. He should really just quit being such a prat about it and relax."

Victoire ignored the jab at Teddy and fought down the urge to defend him as she sighed and leaned her head into Max for the rest of the journey. She stared out the window at the snow covered mountains that passed them by, and eventually fell into a deep sleep.

Whatever would come to happen the next time she'd see him, she would simply have to be prepared for it.

He couldn't be too mad. Could he?

Whew! So hey, sorry for not updating soon, I know it's been awhile. I was away on vaca for a couple of weeks. Again, I want to thank you all for the amazing favs, subs and reviews. The reviews! I love them so much, it really means a lot to me. This is my first fanfic ever, and it's such an amazing community you've all got going on here so I'm really happy with everything :)

I'll try and update again soon, although I am currently working on an X-Men fic :P

I promise the next chapter will have lots of draaaamaaa!

Cheers and love,

Cal


	13. Spite and Betrayal

"Victoire!"

She turned round on the Platform away from Ginger who she'd beens saying her goodbyes to, and saw her parents waving at her from across the crowded space. Beaming, she headed towards them and embraced her mum, beaming. On a spare glance, she looked over her shoulder and felt her stomach clench as she saw Teddy hugging Harry, Albus and James talking animatedly to Ginny. Teddy's head turned and he caught her eye for a moment. She tried smiling, but the gaze only lasted a second before he looked away. The knot in her stomach grew tighter and as she left the platform with her family, she knew things weren't going to get better easily.

By the time they'd arrived at the Burrow, Teddy still hadn't gotten over what he'd seen on the train. He'd hidden his discomfort from Ginny, even managed to disguise it around Harry, who knew practically everything about him- but he felt terrible. Like he was going to snap. He swore the next time him and Victoire were alone he was going to talk sense into her.

His friends explanations on the train were a jumble in his head, from Marcy's calming tone, Clyde's weak attempts at joking about it, Ginger's nervous half honest reasoning and Luce's final question; "Why do you even care anyway?" The only person he wasn't a bit mad at was Jensen who'd had the right mind to keep his mouth shut and not comment on the matter.

"Hey Teddy, will you play chess with me later!" asked Lucy, Percy's youngest daughter, animatedly bouncing up and down. Teddy's jaw clenched and luckily Molly came over to drag Lucy off to see something involving their dad and a pin cushion before Teddy could become more aggravated with the crowded house of people. Feeling he needed sometime by himself to calm down he climbed upstairs three stories to the room he shared with James and Al when staying at the burrow, and collapsed on his bed- exhausted.

Twenty five people. There were twenty five people in the burrow for Christmas that year, most of them still children, and with the amount of bottles needing to be filled, diapers having to be changed and kids demanding to be entertained, Victoire was exhausted already. It was Christmas eve, and in the week she had been there already she still hadn't spoken a word to Teddy. In fact she'd barely even seen him, just little glances of turquoise hair through doorways and once she'd overheard him talking to three year old Lily, trying to convince her to let go of his leg. Currently she was seated at the kitchen table holding her new brother Louis, who was only one year old and fast asleep, his tiny head rested on her shoulder. Her mother was upstairs taking a bath, her father gone down into the village with Harry, George and Ron to pick up some things for dinner, and Dominique was upstairs with Molly and Roxanne. She'd barely gotten any sleep as it seemed all Louis ever did was nap in the day time and wail away the night. The kitchen was much too hot and her grandmother had just put something on the stove to boil that was starting to smell a lot like rotten cabbages. He was exhausted, sweaty and her stomach was starting to churn, plus Louis had just spit up all over her shoulder and then promptly gone straight back to sleep. She couldn't take it much longer- she needed some air.

"Can you take him for a minute? I won't be long." she asked Angelina who was sitting in the kitchen nursing a black eye she'd gotten from one of George's practical joke toys. Handing Louis over to her aunt she slid on some boots, wrapped herself in her grey wool cardigan and stepped outside into the snow.

What she saw was a winter wonderland. The trees were covered in white, giving them the appearance they were twice their size and she could see the tracks that her father and uncles had made on their way into the village. It was silent as the grave, all except for the occasional bird twitter and a paced thumping sound coming from the back of the house. Crunching through the snow, she walked round the garden watching the gnomes scatter here and there, their ugly heads popping up like whack-a-moles. Victoire shivered under the thin cloth and stepped out into the small clearing at the back of the house, her back to the spare door glancing out over the fields towards the cylindric house that belonged to the Lovegoods. Suddenly, she heard the rhythmic thumping stop rather swiftly from behind her. Confused she turned round and froze.

There in the yard in front of the back door was Teddy, a pile of chopped wood at his feet, axe held loosely in in left hand, staring back at her. His coat had been discarded lazily in the snow so he just wore his work boots, jeans and grey tee shirt with the Falmouth Falcons emblem stitched over the heart. He was breathing heavily, his breath rising in puffs of fog and disappearing into the air. She snuck a quick glance over his body and was surprised to see how lean he was. All those Quiddich practices had certainly paid off on his physical form. For the first time in months, years maybe, she felt herself grow attracted to Teddy Lupin. Forcing herself to raise her eyes to meet his, she took a breath.

"Hey." she said softly.

He continued to look at her, and then dropped his gaze, running a hand through his hair and letting out a breath it seemed he was holding. Tilting his head slightly he looked at her through the corner of his eye.

"You should have told me." he stated bluntly. Victoire felt the smile fall from her face.

"I didn't think I had to." she said shortly, suddenly becoming quite interested in her cuticles. He heard Teddy let out a small noise of irritation, and she glanced up to see him shaking his head.

"Really?" he said, in mock surprise. "Because it seemed like you went ahead and told everyone else."

"I was waiting for the right time." she growled, trying to keep her calm. "You were a little pre-occupied with your own girlfriend to pay any attention to the fact that I might be someone's."

"Oh don't play that card." he spat, dropping the axe in the snow. "You know why it's a bad idea. He's hurt girls before and he's not right for you."

"Hurt girls before, yeah right. Just get over that I didn't tell you first Teddy, I know that's why you're really mad."

"I don't exactly care about that now! Hell, I'd be surprised if the whole school doesn't fucking know!"

"Don't." she said, glaring at him. "You think you know anything about him? You told me to stay away from him first year, and me being your one girl fan club at the time listened to you! But you didn't even give me a reason!"

"I gave you a reason, I told you he was being a prick about my parents!"

"Oh come off it, he wouldn't do that." she scoffed, turning away and rolling her eyes.

"Oh yeah? What makes _you_ think you know him so well, huh? He messes around with other girls, did you know that? His last three girlfriend's he's cheated on. You hook up with him in Hogsmeade and suddenly you're an expert?"

"Well then enlighten me, Teddy. Really, I'd love to know, why do you think he would stoop to my level!" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'll tell you why, he's a complete chav who wants to fuck with my head by dating someone close to me! He's trying to psych my out for Quiddich finals!"

Victoire just stood there, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you." she muttered. "It's always about you, isn't it Teddy? Godson of the chosen one, pure Gryffindor at heart, Quiddich champion! Well la-di-fuckin'-da here's a newsflash! NOBODY CARES! Max doesn't care about you, your fan club doesn't care about you and I certainly. Do. Not. Care. About. You!"

"Wow Toire, I really used to think you were more then just a self centered bitch."

"HEY!"

The two jumped apart, they had been standing nose to nose screaming at each other and the sudden voice had shocked them both. Bill, Harry, Ron and George stood in the clearing behind them having followed Victoire's footprints towards the yelling.

Bill and Harry stood out from the group, their eyes on the certain child they'd raised.

"What's going on here?" Bill asked, a frown creasing his heavily scarred face.

Teddy's hair was flaming red and matched his now fading face. Victoire was just the opposite, pale as the snow with nothing but pink cheeks to distinguish her from a ghost.

"Nothing." Victoire muttered, gaze dropping to the ground.

"Well clearly there's something because a second ago you two looked like you were going to rip each other's head off." Harry said, frowning at his godson.

"Toire's dating a total prick." Teddy spat, avoiding the glare she shot at him.

"_Teddy._" Harry shot warningly.

"You're dating?" Bill asked, his frown growing deeper.

"Thanks a lot." she muttered at Teddy who despite himself, couldn't help but smile.

To say the discussion she had later with her parents was awkward would be a bit of an understatement. Victoire couldn't help but think of it as torture.

"Victoire, eetz not that weere angry weez you." her mother started, a concerned look on her face.

"It's that we're... surprised." her father finished. "You and Teddy don't fight."

"Evar." Fleur added.

"And although we feel that you're old enough to make your own discussions on who you spend your time with, we still don't think that you should be spending _all_ your time with this... what's his name again?"

"Max." Victoire monotoned, wanting nothing more then to escape to her room.

"With this Max character." Bill finished.

"Victoire, Teddy eez your bestfreend. Eez opinion should mattair as ouwell." Fleur smiled.

Victoire let out a huge sigh and took in her parent's understanding faces.

"Oui maman..." she muttered, pursing her lips.

Five minutes later she was in her room, having thrown herself onto the bed in exhaustion. She was still mad at Teddy, and even though her parents wanted it, it would take a whole lot more then a little chat with them to change her mind about him.

She sat down at her desk and scrawled out a letter to Max, jotting down everything that had happened in the last hour and added how ridiculous everything Teddy stated was. With a final flourish she signed her name, and handed the letter to Vesper. She watched him out go until he was just a speck on the horizon.

Three hours later, Vesper hovered outside the window of Max Northwick, letter clutched obediently in his beak. He tapped on the glass several times until a figure appeared. The person slid open the window and took the letter from Vesper, not bothering to reward him with a treat for the journey. The figure took the letter out of the room, and carried it down the hall to the den where Max could be seen stretched on a lavish couch near the fireplace.

"Letter for you." spoke the figure, dropping it onto the hearth. Max glanced up and smiled.

"Thanks babe." he grinned pulling Trinity Warrington down onto the couch with him as he wrapped his arms round her. She giggled shrilly, and a spare ember jumped out of the fireplace onto Victoire's letter, causing it to catch fire and burn.

**Hellooo everybody! Whew, so hopefully that was as dramatic as I wanted it to be :) It took me a little while to think up this one, and I'm quite happy with it, it's my longest chapter left. I know it's taking some time for Teddy and Victoire to acknowledge their... "feelings" for each other, but it will come! And they won't be angry for long. Seems like Max is cheating on Toire! Will she find out? And what is Teddy going to do about it? Honhonhon ;)**

**Thanks again for all the great feedback, and reviews make me write faster! Next chapter they'll be back in school, so click that beautiful blue review button for quicker updates!**

**xx**

**-Cal**


	14. Changes in Feelings

"I'm just saying, we're getting really worried about about you. It's weird seeing the two of you avoid each other like this."

It was the third saturday back at Hogwarts, and Marcy and Ginger had decided Victoire needed a day off. They'd collected their bags and dragged her off across the grounds, dodging the occasional snowball some third year boys were sending at each other.

Teddy and Victoire had not spoken a word to each other since that day at the Burrow, and avoided crossing paths at all costs. The train ride back had been extremely awkward especially when Toire dropped by their compartment to say hello to everyone, making it quite obvious that Teddy did not exist in her eyes. On top of all that she had been spending more time then ever with Max and his Slytherin friends. That itself would have been tolerable if it weren't for Trinity Warrington. Everywhere they went, she seemed to be lurking around some corner trying to catch Max's eye. She smirked and sneered at Victoire whenever she passed and to make matters worse, Max didn't seem to want to do anything about it. She was starting to wonder if maybe he even liked it.

"I'm perfectly fine." Victoire said shortly, not looking her best friends in the eye. This was a lie. There were times when she lay in bed at night and tried harder then anything to get the image of Teddy out of her head. How he'd looked behind the Burrow that day, and the way the heat radiated off his skin into the cool air.

"Besides," she added. "I'm doing loads better in my studies without him around to distract me," Also a lie. Although she had more time to study, her Transfiguration mark had dropped greatly without Teddy around to tutor her. "and Max is just a good a companion." This, she tried desperately to convince herself to be truth but there were times when she just felt foolish and alone sitting by him at the Slytherin table. On top of all that, she found herself missing Teddy. He had been cruel at the Burrow, but now... she just missed talking to him and having him make her laugh. She misses making _him _laugh. She missed the sound of his voice, the way his hair would grow brighter whenever he saw her, the touch of his skin on her hand when he was trying to get her attention. It almost hurt sometimes to think about it.

"Well... just remember, we're here. If you need any help." Marcy smiled. Victoire returned it and let out a loud laugh as Ginger got pegged in the back with a flying snowball.

Teddy, on the other hand, was restless.

Three weeks had gone by, and he hadn't spoken a word to her. He'd find himself waking up in the middle of the night and having the irresistible urge to tell her something that had happened in class that day, even going so far as to reach for a quill and parchment to send to her and then he'd stop, remembering everything he'd said on Christmas Eve. He couldn't stand seeing her in the halls with him. Every time he did his fists clenched and he could practically feel his hair getting darker. And if that didn't set him off enough seeing them together, there was always Luce.

They'd been going out nearly five months, and at first it was great. She was funny, smart, not to mention outspoken. But eventually... she wore on him. What at first seemed like devotion turned out to be clingy-ness. She nagged and nagged, all the time, and as if seeing her during classes and break wasn't enough he had to deal with her back at the common room as well. And the _whining. _He couldn't even get started on the whining. He had even wondered at one point why he had liked her in the first place and while going through these thoughts came across a solution that had stunned him.

Luce... kind of looked like Victoire. He couldn't comprehend it at first, because he'd never thought of her like that. Toire was always... Toire. His friend, the person he went to for advice and a laugh. He tried to convince himself otherwise. Sure, they were both blonde, but Victoire's hair, unlike Luce's had this silvery sheen, and it was so much softer. Her eyes were blue, not grey like Luce's, like looking into the sky. And her skin was perfect- this milky complexion scattered with light freckles that folded themselves over one another across the bridge of her nose. Sure Luce had perfect teeth, but Victoire was... wait. He had to stop himself there, because just thinking about her had brought back memories of how she'd looked when he'd yelled at her. She was so pale, and she'd looked so hurt. It killed him to see her like that, let alone suffer knowing that he was the one who'd caused it. And since that revelation... he couldn't stop thinking about her.

Not in the same way anyway. No matter how hard he tried, something had changed and whenever he thought of her he'd get this feeling in his stomach. Something he used to get whenever he thought about Luce, but that had changed a long time ago. He started not to care that he was mad at her. Whenever he saw her with Max, all he could think about was getting her back.

It was the night before Valentine's day when Victoire was shaken out of her dream involving fresh water plimpys and the bassist of the Weird Sisters to see Ginger standing over her, her bright orange hair a mess of curls.

"Toire, wake up!" she whisper-screamed.

"Mmmf... what time is it...?" she muffled, face half in her pillow.

"2 am, come on we have to go now! Our emotional support is needed!"

"What are you talking about?" Victoire groaned, rolling onto her back and sitting up. Ginger was wearing her house coat over her blue and white polka dotted pj bottoms and Appleby Arrows cami. Tucked under her arm she held an enormous bar of Honeydukes chocolate and a box of tissues.

"Ginger..." she asked, caution in her tone. "What's going on?"

"Marcy just send me an owl." she exclaimed softly, slipping her feet into her moccasin slippers. "Teddy broke up with Luce!"

To put it kindly, Luce was a bit of a mess.

By the time Victoire and Ginger had snuck through the castle (narrowly dodging a greying Mrs. Norris) and given the password to the fat lady (coincidentally it was "Plimpy.") they crawled through the portrait hole, ignored the common room and went straight up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, where they could hear sniffling and muted wails from within.

"Honey, we're here." Ginger said softly, opening the door as the two girls took in the sight of their friend. She was face first in her pillow, hair a complete and utter mess, and as Victoire took a step forward she could have sworn her crys went up an octave. She had to force herself from rolling her eyes.

Marcy was sitting on the edge of the bed, patting her friend's leg weakly. She looked like she'd gotten absolutely zero hours of sleep, the bags under her eyes so purple they almost looked like she'd lost a boxing match. Ginger, the girliest out of the three of them, took her seat beside Luce's head and started stroking her hair comfortingly and murmuring something Victoire couldn't make out. She sat down beside Marcy.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"It came completely out of nowhere by the sounds of it." Marcy said, nodding to Luce. "They were up late together in the common room doing God knows what, and all of a sudden she storms in here balling her eyes out. She said he just ended it. Just like that."

"He said it would be best if we... stopped!" Luce wailed, launching into a fit of new tears while Ginger crooned and patted her head.

"Yeah, that." Marcy said, rolling her eyes so only Victoire could see. "Apparently when she asked him why he said he just didn't have feelings for her anymore-"

"_Harsh._" Ginger muttered.

", and when she asked if there was someone else, he said-"

"He said, 'I don't know'! How can you not know! Obviously there's someone, and he just didn't think I could take it!" Luce screeched.

All this was news to Victoire and she just sat there taking it all in. She could tell that Luce had been wearing on him the past few weeks, but now that the break up had finally happened she couldn't help but wonder who Miss "I don't know" really was.

A week later Victoire was leaving the great hall after breakfast. She had just said goodbye to her friends and was off to Potions, a class she only had by herself. Apparently the whole school was now aware of Luce and Teddy's break up because her wails could be heard throughout all of Gryffindor tower, and word had spread from there. Toire had just rounded a corner, books under her arm, hair braided back messily, when she heard someone behind her call her name. At first she thought it might be Max, since she hadn't seen him since the previous day, but it was a girl's voice. Turning round, she saw a familiar face come up to her and she smiled.

"Hi Olivia, long time no see." Victoire grinned.

Olivia Blunt and Victoire Weasley had always stayed on the friendly side of things, but had sort of drifted apart shortly into their first year. Olivia tended to hang out more with Slytherins and some of the older Ravenclaw girls. She was fairly popular and known well for her blunt honesty, ironically matching her surname. Some people thought she was a bitch, but Victoire had always sort of liked her even since they first met at Diagon Alley.

"Hey Toire, how are things?" she greeted, come into stride so they walked side by side down the corridor. "I don't see you round with dream boy much lately." she added, referring to Teddy.

"Yeah, we had a bit of a falling out over Christmas." she said, not wanting to go into a lot of detail.

"Over what?" Olivia asked, having nothing of it. Toire paused for a moment and figured it wouldn't hurt to give the reason.

"He doesn't accept my relationship with Max." she said, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. There was a beat, and when Olivia didn't say anything, she turned her head to look at her. Something had changed in her expression, and it sparked Victoire's curiosity.

"What? What is it?"

She didn't speak, and right when Victoire thought she wasn't going to answer, Olivia grabbed her wrist and pulled her off the the side of the corridor.

"Ow! What the hell-"

"Toire, I need you to listen to me." she said calmly, there was a look of... was it pity? in her eyes. "I like you. I know we don't hang out a whole lot, but I would really appreciate it if you would trust me. I think what I'm about to say is in your best interest."

Victoire's eyes narrowed and she took a step back crossing her arms.

"What's this about?"

"Tomorrow, around six o'clock, I think it would be... wise, if you were to go check out the boys washroom on the fourth floor."

"Oh come off it." Victoire said, rolling her eyes and pushing away from the wall back into the stream of students heading off to class. Olivia rushed up to here again.

"I just think it's a good idea. Come find me after you do it, okay?" she said, smiling kindly.

"Fine. Whatever." Toire said shortly, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Okay. And Toire?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't give up on dream boy just yet." she winked, before disappearing into the crowd.

**Hey guys, so I know a whole lot didn't go down in this chapter, and that it was mostly emotional stuff, but the next one's gonna have lots of drama and maybe a bit of QUIDDICH HELLS YEAH. I'm away from the afternoon of the 17th to most of the 19th, so I won't be able to get a lot in then, but I'm tryin! I feel bad 'cause I've been ditching my other fanfic to do this one...**

**Anyways thanks once again for the great feedback and remember, reviews make me write faster!**

**Cheers!**

**-Cal**


	15. Not Like Luce

Through all her classes the next day Victoire couldn't shake the advice Olivia had given her. Clearly she was hinting at something to do with Max, but that was crazy. Max was mad about her, he'd said so himself the previous day. Sure she hadn't seen him a lot lately, being busy with Quiddich practice for his next upcoming game against Gryffindor and all. Just the other day she'd caught sight of the Gryffindor team out on the pitch and spotted Teddy, easily recognizable by his hair. He soared across the field, quaffle tucked under his arm and she found herself leaning against the side of the window, entranced in watching him. It wasn't until she felt Ginger's tap on her shoulder that she pulled herself away and headed off to charms.

"Class dismissed." Droned Professor Binns as he floated through the blackboard into the next room, leaving his students to escort themselves out. It was the last class of the day, and Victoire was gathering her things with Marcy and Luce. She hadn't told anyone about Olivia's advice, not wanting anyone to know before her, whatever it was she'd been talking about. Luce was slowly starting to get better, the first week being the worst bit. She was a depression eater: she practically devoured three bars of Honeyduke's chocolate a day. Now a week later, it had dropped down to one and a half. She'd even started to put on makeup again, which according to Ginger was huge progress.

Nearly three hours later, Victoire was saying goodbye to her friends outside the Gryffindor common room, promising to see them later on at dinner.

"We'll save a spot for you!" Marcy called from down the corridor as they headed off towards the Great Hall. Victoire waved and promptly turned on her heel to make her way to the fourth floor. On her way she wondered about what she might find there. It was a washroom, which surely would be prone to graffiti... maybe someone had written something rude about her there? Because they were certainly saying it. Trinity Warrington and a group of her friends often made it a hobby to whisper names at her loudly behind her seat in the great hall until she had taken to sitting with her back to the Hufflepuff table instead of the prior.

She made her way up one of the moving staircases just as it attached itself to the fourth floor hallway that she wanted to be at. She walked up the steps quickly, wanting to get whatever this was over with and go find her friends and Max, maybe even tell him about how ridiculous this whole thing was. She could see the boys bathroom up ahead and rolled her eyes to herself. Olivia was probably hallucinating or something, Merlin knows what she gets up to with her older friends. She was nice and everything, but what did she know about Max really?

She had reached the door to the boys washroom now, and was about to push open the door and walk straight in when she heard a sound.

It was faint, muffled by the door between them but it sounded like someone's voice. Male. Slightly familiar. She froze and nearly stopped breathing in an attempt to hear better. Pressing her ear to the door and concentrated and then another line came out, this one slightly more audible.

"Ouch, watch it, no biting."

The voice had come out as a chuckle, and instantly her heart began to race. That voice, that _laugh_ was instantly familiar and she almost choked on her own breath at the sound. Pushing the door open, not even really aware she was doing so, she stepped into the room. It was empty except for two figures in the cubicle towards the back where the sounds were coming from. She couldn't see their faces, but two pairs of shoes were visible beneath the wood of the stall. One of them was a girl's.

Her pulse racing now, she walked slowly towards the end of the room, the giggles growing louder. She swore she'd heard them somewhere before, but she couldn't quite place the high pitched squealing. Suddenly the boy's voice spoke again.

"God Trinity, you really are amazing."

Before she could stop herself, she choked out a gasp. Those words, the same words Max had spoken to her in the alley in Hogsmeade, spoken in his voice to... _Trinity Warrington?_

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak, she couldn't even think right. She didn't have time to hide as Max stuck his head out of the stall to see who had stifled the gasp, and froze.

"What? What is it?" Trinity asked, peeking out beside him, her neck dotted in hickeys. Her irritated face took in Victoire's tortured look and it was soon replaced with on of triumph. Max on the other hand, stepped out of the stall and took a step towards Toire, hands out in defense.

His hair was ruffled, his tie discarded on the floor behind him and most of his shirt buttons undone...

"Toire..." he said cautiously, "it's not what it looks like."

...and he was trying to deny it.

"Come here, we can talk about this." he said in the same nervous tone.

"How could you?" she whispered. Usually it wouldn't have been heard, but now it carried across the room, echoing back at them like ghosts were repeating her.

"Toire, it's not my fault." he said, and suddenly she snapped.

"How could you!" she yelled as she blinked back tears. "I trusted you, you bastard! I TRUSTED YOU!"

She was taking steps back now, shaking with betrayal and rage, nothing computing but anger. Max and Trinity both stared at her, mouths agape.

"Teddy was right." she whispered softly, tears streaming silently down her face. "Teddy was right."

And she ran out into the hall.

"Teddy!"

Teddy Lupin stopped a moment on his broomstick to see who had just called his name. It was after supper, just past seven and Brice Jolsbee had called for a final evening practice to prepare for their match against Slytherin the following day. Glancing down at the grounds, he saw Marcy waving up at him, gesturing for him to come down. He signaled to Brice for a break and descended, landing and greeting his friend with a smile.

"Hey Marce, what's up? If your looking for Clyde I think I heard him mention detention with Binns again..." That's when he noticed her face. She was slightly pale, a worried expression worn with care. Marcy was never worried, and it scared him. "What's wrong?" he asked cautiously.

"It's Victoire." she said, and he stiffened. "She just caught Max snogging Trinity Warrington in the boys washroom."

By the time Brice Jolsbee noticed Teddy was gone, he was too far away across the grounds to hear his name being called as he headed into the castle.

"She doesn't want to see anyone." Ginger sighed, stepping out of her dormitory and closing the door behind her. Teddy had been waiting in the hall along with Marcy, Regina Sparks and Dominique for nearly an hour while Ginger had tried to coax Victoire into talking to at least one of them.

"She's not eating, drinking, she's barely spoken a word." Ginger sighed worriedly. "She's just sitting there. I think she's crying but I can't be sure, she doesn't make any sound like Luce when she does."

"Let me talk to her." Teddy said for the millionth time.

"Again, Teddy, I don't want to seem rude but I don't think you can do anything to help right now. You should go back to the Gryffindor common room and try to get a goodnight's sleep. If anything you can concentrate on murdering that prick in Quiddich tomorrow."

Teddy nodded goodbye to his friends then, making his way down the spiral staircase away from Ravenclaw Tower. He'd never seen Victoire like this before, never known her to exile herself from the help of others. Max's face flashed through his head and he felt a spike of rage against the bastard. Maybe, just maybe, he would take Ginger's advice after all...

**Heyy guys, so I know I promised Quiddich in this chapter but I just got so caught up with the details :P I promise it'll be in the next one, really, I'll make an unbreakable vow, I swear 3 **

**I've been up since 5am this morning again, but I figured you deserved another chapter thanks to all the amazing feedback I've been getting. Seriously, you guys are the best. I literally squeal to myself every time I read a review. I think we should just have a giant house party after we get sorted by Pottermore this October. What do you guys think? Anyway, I'm exhausted so I'm off to bed even though it's only ten.**

**Love ya,**

**-Cal**


	16. Following Ginger's Advice

"Toire, wake up."

There was a pounding in her head and when she tried to lift her eyelids she felt as if they'd been glued shut. Groaning, she rolled over in bed and buried her face in the pillow.

"Come on Toire, we're going to miss the game." Ginger complained and she heard some shuffling from the end of her bed and felt a sudden coldness on her legs as her blankets were pulled off. "I know you're hurt, but this is the best thing for you. Really."

She felt the coldness seep in and immediately recalled the previous night's events. Max and Trinity half dressed in the washroom, Ginger's soothing attempts to get Victoire to talk. Teddy's voice, distressed, floating into the room.

"Oh God..." she moaned, burying her face deeper into the cloth.

"I know, I know." Ginger said sympathetically. "But you have to go to this today. For your dignity."

"Dignity?" she mumbled. "I think I lost that awhile ago..."

"If you're well enough to be sarcastic you're well enough to go to the game." Ginger said sternly.

"I weep for your children."

"_Victoire!"_

She groaned again and rolled over onto her back. There was a dried up old tissue stuck to her cheek. She sighed and picked it off.

"Look." Ginger said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and taking her hand. "What happened yesterday was horrible. It was sick, and wrong, and I'm sure everyone can agree that Max is a complete and total wanker. But look at yourself Victoire. Look at what he gave up. Any guy in this school would be lucky to have you, and now that you're rid of him you can move on to finding someone who'll really treat you right."

Victoire sighed and sat up in bed to face Ginger.

"I really liked him, Ginge." she mumbled.

"I know. A lot of girls did, so don't kick yourself about it." she patted her hand and stood up, going to shuffle through Victoire's trunk.

"What are you doing?"

"Finding something for you to wear."

"I really don't feel like going."

Ginger looked up from the trunk, her orange curls bobbing. "Come on, it won't be that bad. It's not like you'll have to talk to him."

"It's going to be embarrassing." she sighed.

"No, it's going to be brave. You are going to march right up to that Quiddich pitch looking like you just stepped out of a film, sit there eyes forwards and cheer the ears off everyone for Gryffindor. Not only will it let him know that you're over him, but it'll boost Teddy's confidence as well."

"Oh God, Teddy!" she moaned, falling back onto the sheets. "He was right the whole time, I'm such a prat!"

"He doesn't seem to think so." Ginger said, tossing a pair of jeans onto her bed.

"What do you mean?"

"He stood outside your door for ages last night trying to talk to you, but I figured you wouldn't want to. He's not mad at you Toire, he just cares about you. Doesn't that sound like someone who needs your Quiddich support?"

Victoire was silent for a moment as she weighed the pros and cons. She wasn't dating Max anymore, but it seemed that Teddy was no longer mad at her. She sighed.

"Can I borrow those black boots of yours?" she asked, sliding her feet onto the floor.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, it is a beautiful day for Quiddich this morning if you count cloudy skies and freezing temperatures a thing of beauty!" Pierce Jordan's voice echoed through the cheering stadium as Victoire took her seat between Ginger and Marcy, giving a small smile to Sean, Luce and Clyde who sat with them.

"I've got these if you want them..." Marcy said, pulling two Gryffindor scarves out of her bag and handing one each to both the Ravenclaws. Victoire took and and wrapped it round her neck, breathing in a familiar scent.

"Where did you get these?" she asked Marcy, the scarf soft between her fingers.

"Oh, they're Teddy and Jensen's. They're playing, so you know, they don't really need them."

Victoire simply turned her head back to the stadium, Teddy's smell still on the scarf.

"Looks like we've got a brilliant game lined up for us today folks," Pierce continued, "Jolsbee's been keeping his team in top shape since their prior loss to Slytherin back in November,"

There were a chorus of boos and cheers from around the stadium and Victoire noticed Clyde reach down and squeeze Marcy's hand, causing her to blush. Suddenly she felt very, very lonely.

"and are quite confident about the match today. The Slytherins on the other hand are leading the series with the help of their captain Richards and star chaser Max Northwick!"

Victoire winced and felt Ginger pat her back encouragingly. She tried to concentrate on the noise around her, but when Pierce started to announce the players, she forced herself to look up. When Max's name was called she tried to look away, but need got the better of her and she stared down at him openly. She didn't quite know what she was looking for; remorse, guilt, a tortured glance round the stadium in an attempt to find her. But all she saw was the same confident boy who'd made her heart fly months ago.

Next the Gryffindor team was called, and her friends around her cheered, especially loudly when Jensen and Teddy stepped onto the pitch clad in their scarlet robes, their brooms clutched tightly in their hands. She watched them as the whistle was blown and Pierce Jordan started up his commentary once again.

"And they're off! A starting catch by Katy Thomas of Gryffindor who sails down the pitch, passing to Jolsbee, nice form there, Jolsbee dodges a bludger, nearly at the opposing end, takes the shot, keeper Parson dives, misses, GRYFFINDOR SCORE!"

Victoire screamed along with her friends, she couldn't help it. Despite her dismay from the previous day there was just something about Quiddich that made her spirits soar.

"Back in the game now, Richards with the quaffle, passes to Bennet, Bennet dodges a bludger shot by Noel Kilman, nice try there Noel,"

Jay Bennet fingered Pierce as he flew by him on his way to the rings on the other end.

"Professor did you see what he just did to me!" Pierce exclaimed to a stern faced McGonagall. "Right, keep trying there Noel maybe you can straighten out his face..."

"Jordan I'm warning you!"

"Oh so now it's my fault?"

Bennet continued down the field and took his shot, but Bette Netwarth dived and performed an excellent block, sending the quaffle straight at Teddy who managed to catch it easily.

"Beautiful save by Netwarth, now it's Lupin with the Quaffle headed towards the Slytherin end-"

Suddenly a bludger was shot towards Teddy missing his nose by inches and the crowd let out a huge gasp. Teddy dropped the quaffle in shock and then dived when he realized what he'd done, but it was too late, Richards had snatched it out from under him and zipped round to the Gryffindor end where he took a shot and scored.

Half an hour into the game the score was tied 60-60 and Pierce was practically screaming with excitement.

"Thomas with the quaffle, passes to Lupin, back to Thomas, Lupin, Thomas, Lupin, Jesus you two make up your mind! Oh, now it's to Jolsbee, loops round a stray bludger and looks like he's headed towards the end now, and- OH! WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT!"

The entire crowd gasped as Brice was practically knocked from his broom and struggling to hold on, thanks to a incredibly brutal shove by Max Northwick.

Max was now soaring round the Slytherin end, the quaffle grasped firmly under his arm basking in the cheers coming from all ends his house's side.

"Penalty! Penalty!" Pierce was screaming, but when none was called the crowd let out a groan of disappointment.

"So, after the disgusting act of violence,"

"_Jordan."_

"I mean, back on the pitch we've got Bennet back with the quaffle. He heads to the Slytherin end, gives a clean pass to Northprick, sorry, that's Northwick isn't it Professor, pardon me,"

Max was soaring through the air, a grin stretched over his face barreling towards his target when out of nowhere...

"Here he comes with the quaffle, this doesn't look good people, he takes aim ready to shoot now- WHAT THE F-!"

But the rest of Pierce's cuss was drowned out by the crowd's huge gasp, as Teddy came ramming into Max's side pushing him into the wall of one of the stands. Max tumbled down briefly before managing to grab his broom and regain his flight.

"And Teddy Lupin seems to be getting some justice for his captain as Gryffindor gets a penalty, Richards with the shot." Pierce announced, amused.

But it wasn't ten minutes later wehn Max got the quaffle a second time that Teddy was right beside him, intent on knocking him of his broom.

"Oh my God Teddy, what are you doing?" Victoire whispered to herself watching as her best friend slammed into Max's broom sending him nearly flying off the pitch. The ref blew the whistle and Teddy slowed to a hover in the air, but right before he could descend to accept his second penalty, Max had flown straight for him, barreling into his shoulder and nearly knocking him off his broom.

The crowd let out a gasp, almost as if they were one person taking a huge breath together as Pierce continued to shout his observations and the ref blew her whistle madly.

"Well it seems these two players are taking their rivalry a bit too far!" Pierce announced, but was suddenly tapped on the shoulder as a Slytherin girl whispered something in his ear making his eyes widen. "Oh. Oh!" he said, turning back to the microphone. "Well ladies and gentlemen I've just been informed that maybe captain justice is not the reason for this brawl, a little bird just told me Max Northwick had a falling out with his girlfriend-"

Victoire groaned and buried her face in her hands, feeling the hundreds of eyes searching for her. "Victoire Weasley, who is a long time friend of Teddy Lupin's."

"Kill me." she moaned as Ginger patted her back in an attempt at comfort. An even bigger gasp pulled her attention away from her palms. Glancing up, she watched as Max reeled back on his broom, hands clamped over his nose. Taking a hand away she could see there was blood. A lot of it. Before Max had time to strike back though, Brice Jolsbee was up between the boys along with the ref who had finally managed to grab her broom and do something about the mess above her. As Brice pulled Teddy away towards the grounds and Max was led off by the ref towards his time, the crowd was going absolutely wild. Victoire watched as the boys were escorted off the pitch, but this time her eyes were not on Max. Teddy's expression was flat as he left, a dark bruise forming on his cheekbone, his hair ruffled and robes muddy. He disappeared into the darkened stands, and after a few minutes of confusion, the game resumed.

Suddenly she felt the urge to leave.

"I'll be right back." she said, getting up from her seat and rushing to the steps in the stands before any of her friends could say anything. She walked quickly, her boots padding on the steps until she reached the covered part of the grounds. Almost jogging, she hurried along the edges to the door that led to the Gryffindor change room. Slipping in she heard angry voices coming her way and ducked behind one of the curtains as the Quiddich ref and Professor McGonagall swished past her, their robes flapping in the icy wind. The ref was purple faced, McGonagall wearing her expression of severity as they turned the corner back onto the pitch. Victoire exhaled and took a step out of her hiding place, quietly walking into the change room.

She had been in here once before, the day of Teddy's first match at the beginning of the year. She remembered how nervous he'd been, how his hands hand shook and he'd been white as St. Nick waiting to go on. She glanced round the room at the lockers, the player's names and the old photos of each team that had ever played at Hogwarts: hundreds of smiling facing laughing and chatting inside their frames. She heard a footstep behind her and turned.

There was Teddy, oblivious to her arrival standing in front of his locker removing his gloves. She took a step forwards, her heart pounding. They hadn't spoken in over a month and suddenly being so close to him was making her nervous. She took another step and accidentally broke a spare twig under her foot, the snap breaking the silence of the room. He started and turned round, eyes widening at the sight of her. Everything about him was familiar, from the ruffle of his turquoise hair, the slight of his jaw, and his lean frame to the smell on his scarf still wrapped round her shoulders. They stared at each other for a moment, only a few feet apart.

"Victoire..." he said softly, and she threw herself at him.

He staggered backwards as she wrapped her arms round his neck, hugging him tight and stood there awkwardly for half a beat before wrapping his arms round her slim waist and hugging her back. Her face was buried in his neck, her nose cold on his skin and it took him a moment before he realized she was crying.

"Victoire what's wrong?" he whispered, hugging her tighter and thinking to himself that he might never let go.

"I'm so sorry Teddy." she said softly, her breath hitching on his name. "I'm so so sorry."

"You're crazy, I'm the one who should be sorry." he murmured, surprised when he felt his own tears stinging his eyes. "I shouldn't have ignored you, I should have been there for you..."

"You've always been there for me." she said, loosening her arms to his disappointment. He dropped his arms reluctantly and they stood apart, her hand resting on his arm.

"I can't believe you did that." she said now, referring to Max.

"He's a prick, like I said." he replied simply. "He never deserved you."

"But what about Quiddich?" she asked, concerned. "Teddy you'll be banned if you're not expelled already!"

A slow smile crossed his face as he wrapped his arm round her shoulder.

"I don't think we'll need to worry about that." he said, feeling suddenly as if a weight had been lifted off his chest now that he had Victoire with him again.

March came quickly to Hogwarts, the last of the frost melting off the castle as the students dwelled on the grounds. It was a Saturday and instead of being with out there with them, Teddy was in Professor McGonagall's office accompanied by his headmistress and godfather.

"So we've come to a decision then." Harry said finally, smiling at his old professor. "Teddy, you're not to play for the rest of the year as punishment for what you did, and you'll be helping Hagrid on the grounds every Friday night until June as detention."

Teddy couldn't quite say he was pleased, but considering it wasn't a Quiddich ban forever let alone expulsion, he figured his godfather had sorted him out rather well. As he left the office leaving Harry to chat with McGonagall, he wandered into the hall where he spotted his friends waiting for him. He approached them, forcing a look of sadness onto his face.

"Oh God, what is it?" Sean asked nervously. "They didn't expel you did they?"

"Of course they didn't." Marcy laughed, poking Teddy in the ribs causing him to beam. "He just likes to mess with us."

"I just can't play for the rest of the year." he announced and everyone sighed. "Ah well, it's worth it."

"How's that?" Clyde asked, threading his fingers through Marcy's.

"Well, I get to see Northwick's nose everyday don't I?" he laughed and Victoire elbowed him in the ribs. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she did the same to Ginger as the group disappeared onto the grounds, free to live out the rest of their beautiful Saturday afternoon.

**THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY! It is mearly the last I'll be writing of them in this particular year, and whew it's been a lot! Nearly a thousand words more then what I normally write! But it was worth it, I had loads of fun with this one, and believe me when I say that there'll be more to come now that Teddy's starting to acknowledge his feeling for Victoire! Again a huge thanks for all the feedback, and I can't wait to get started on the next bit!**

**xx**

**-Cal**


	17. An Unexpected Turn of Events

"Alright, alright, one more match but then I'm going in for drinks!" Victoire yelled across the Weasley's orchard towards Teddy. It was just nearing the end of July and Sean, Clyde and Jensen were are on their brooms as well having been visiting for the week. Victoire wasn't due to see Ginger or Marcy until mid-August so she had been spending loads of time with the boys: namely playing Quiddich. They played two on two, with Sean working as the referee since he wasn't the best flyer, and they needed one for all of Clyde's cheating.

"Aw, why just one?" Teddy yelled back, the quaffle tucked loosely under his arm as he leaned back nonchalantly. At sixteen years old Teddy had grown up into a boy that could make nearly any girl swoon. On the occasion they went into the village he'd have clusters of muggle girls giggling and pointing at him and Victoire always had to restrain him from flashing the colour of his hair when they were around for attention. He was just over six foot, his bright teal hair all over the place in a way that greatly resembled Harry's, his sharp eyes piercing. His body was lean from hours of Quiddich practice and he had a smile that when he sprung it on you, you couldn't help but swoon.

"Because it's too bloody hot out to stay for more!" she yelled back, fanning herself dramatically as Clyde laughed from above her where he was doing loop-de-loops to see if he could make himself throw up. Victoire glanced up at his and rolled her eyes, tugging the front of her tank top away from her chest to get some air circulating. She wore jean cut offs and no shoes, her long blonde hair tied back into her signature sloppy ponytail, her willowy figure elegant even in her casual getup.

"Clyde you moron, get back down here and play the game!" she shouted up at him and he roared with laughter as he did one more loop and swirled back down to float beside her dizzily.

"Okay, two on two, Clyde and Toire versus Teddy and Jensen." Sean said in his best announcers voice, catching the quaffle as Teddy tossed it over to him. With a flourish he tossed it in the air and Victoire zoomed forwards on her Nimbus to catch it.

Nearly an half hour later, the score was 70-90 for Victoire's side when they noticed a figure approaching on the grass and waving them down.

"And that a match!" Sean called, as Victoire and Clyde cheered and high-fived each other.

"No fair you've been practicing!" Teddy joked as Jensen flew by him shoving his shoulder and nearly sending him off his broom.

"Something you should be doing more of now that you're allowed back on the team this year!" she joked as the group of five descended to see who the new arrival was.

Once they landed together the boys looked on curiously at the stranger: a boy with short brown hair who looked about a year older then the lot of them. He had tan skin and broad shoulders and he was wearing a pair of old jeans and a t shirt. He waved to them and to the surprise of the boys, Victoire waved back.

"You know that guy" Teddy asked as they stood to join her, peering at the boy who continued to approach them.

"Yeah, and you should too." she said elbowing him in the ribs. "That's Dan Ross, he's the captain of the Ravenclaw team."

"What's he doing here?"

But Victoire didn't have time to answer as Dan had descended upon them.

"Hey Dan." Victoire smiled in greeting.

"Toire." he grinned back, casting a glance at the boys all of whom were standing protectively behind her. "I was just in the neighborhood and was wondering if I could have a word with you." he said, friendly enough. "Alone." he added when noticing the glares he was getting from the boys behind her.

"Sure, I don't see why not." she shrugged, turning round to her friends. "Hey guys I'll see you inside okay, I won't be long."

The boys headed towards the burrow but Teddy lingered until Jensen tugged at his shirt a bit to get him moving.

"So." she said, turning back to Dan. "What's up?"

Dan glanced over her shoulder to make sure the boys were gone before he stated;

"I think you should join the team this year."

Her eyes widened in surprise and he continued.

"I was just out for a walk really, when I saw you all playing and I've been watching you. You're a spectacular player, Victoire." he said beaming. "I don't know how I didn't notice it before, but I really think we'd have a good chance of winning the cup this year if you joined."

"Wow." she said, stunned. "Dan, wow. I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll join."

"Well I can't just do that, there'll be tryouts..."

"Forget tryouts, I've already seen what you can do. And honestly, I think you'd be the perfect seeker."

Victoire suddenly remembered something Harry had once told her.

_You've got the build for a seeker. You've got the sharp eyes and wit for it. _

"You think so?" she said, biting her lip.

"Definitely." he said. "And then you and your friends could _really_ compete." he added, nodding in the direction the boys had disappeared.

"Well... thanks Dan. I'll think about it for sure."

"I hope so." he said, smiling. "We need you."

"So what did the enemy want?" Clyde asked as Victoire slid through the back door into the Weasley's kitchen. It was just Harry, Bill and Ron's families staying there at the moment, the other relatives not having arrived yet. Most of the children were down for a nap, so the old house was pleasantly calm for once.

Victoire poured herself a glass of lemonade and sat down at the table with the boys, helping herself to a treacle tart off of Clyde's plate and taking a bite.

"Wanted me to join the team." she said through a mouthful of crumbs.

Teddy immideatly choked on his own tart and Sean had to thump him on the back causing him to spew crumbs all over the table.

"Well, that's attractive." Toire mused, trying not to laugh.

"Why would he want that?" Teddy said once recovered, ignoring her jab. She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh I don't know, I couldn't be because I just whipped your arse at Quiddich could it?"

"Hey, I helped!" Clyde added.

"He's just scared you'll accept his offer and start beating us in school as well as out." Jensen chucked, taking a sip of his drink.

"I'll say, we're doomed if she joins." Teddy added, and she felt a small rush of pleasure knowing that her friends weren't against the decision.

"Well." she said, beaming. "Maybe I will. We'll just have to wait and see. Besides, we've got the whole summer ahead of us before we have to worry about anything like that."

But summer rushed by, and the next thing they knew it was September 1st, and the group was arriving at Hogwarts again.

"I am _starving._" Ginger groaned, clutching her stomach dramatically in the carriage as they approached the school.

"I told you you should have eaten on the train." Marcy said, her head resting on Clyde's shoulder. Their relationship had survived the summer, much to the approval of their friends.

"Yeah, but I wasn't hungry then!" she moaned, turning to Victoire and whispering dramatically, "Saaave meee"

Toire let out a laugh as she pinned the brand new prefect's badge to her robes and finished tying the blue and bronze tie around her neck. She'd gotten the badge nearly a week before much to the delight of her family, and the constant mockery of Teddy and George.

"Crap..." she turned to her right and saw Teddy struggling to do the same with his tie. She rolled her eyes and reached forward. "Here, let me." His eyes shifted upwards as she worked at his tie, straightening it and tucking it under his sweater. She looked up and froze for an instant as the two of them were caught staring at each other. Suddenly they both looked away, and Victoire let out a nervous laugh before tightening the tie and choking him as their friends roared with laughter, giving her a moment to get a grip and forget about the strange connection she'd just felt.

"It's good to be home." Teddy grinned as the group stepped into the great hall and glanced around, beaming. The sky reflected above them was dark and scattered with clouds, but it didn't put any damper on the cheerful conversation that filled the hall as Ginger and Victoire went to take their seats at the Ravenclaw table, waving a temporary goodbye to their Gryffindor friends. Victoire caught sight of Dan Ross sitting a few seats down, chatting animatedly some some of his seventh year friends, but before she could wave there was a chiming of glasses and all the heads in the room swiveled up to see Professor Nottwood leading a thin stream of first years into the room. Like every year, she was always baffled to see how small they were.

As the sorting began, Victoire clapped and cheered with the other students as they welcomed in ten new Ravenclaws, five boys and five girls (somehow it always seemed to work out that way), and when the meal was served, cheered along with the others as they were told to tuck in.

"I am so full," Ginger announced, patting her stomach an hour later as the hall continued it's noisy chatter. "I think I may never eat again."

"Can't make up your mind can you?" Toire laughed as all the plates on the table were magically cleared. Ginger pushed Toire's shoulder jokingly as Professor McGonagall stood at the head of the table and clapped her hands together twice, causing the students to grow silent.

"Thank you." she said, her scottish accent thick as ever. "To our new friends, welcome. To our old, welcome back." An immense roar of cheering took over the hall at this phrase and McGonagall beamed, clapping her hands again to quiet the students.

"It is that time again when I must give out a few notices. As it always has been, the Forbidden Forest is banned to all students unaccompanied by a teacher..."

While McGonagall explained the rules Victoire couldn't help her mind wander to what it would be like if she were on the Quiddich team that year. The feeling of the wind in her hair as the school chanted her name, her fingers folding over the snitch-

"Unfortunately, the inter-house Quiddich Cup will not be taking place this year." she finished much to the immense gasp of the students. Victoire was startled out of her dream and let out a "What!" that earned her many stares from across the hall. Blushing, she shut her mouth, shock still etched on her face.

"Yes, it will not be taking place this year due to a very special event we feel it is time to bring back to our school."

A murmur of curiosity rumbled across the hall, and Victoire recalled something in the back of her memory from when she was much younger, something Harry and her mother had once discussed in great detail, but she could quite remember what.

"It has been decided," Professor McGonagall said as suddenly the memory sparked and Victoire whipped her head round to stare at Teddy, who's mouth was hanging open in shock just as hers and they both remembered what their guardians had had to go through in a particular year of their schooling.

"That the Triwizard Tournament will once again be held at Hogwarts this year!" McGonagall announced as the room erupted in hundreds of cheers around her.


	18. A Spitting Image

"I can't believe it's almost been a month." Ginger mused as the girls walked down the hallways, Victoire in the middle, Marcy and Ginger flanking her.

"I can't believe the welcoming feast is tonight." Marcy said in the midst of scribbling down the last of her potions essay wildly as she headed to that particular class.

"I can't believe they allowed it in the first place." Victoire finished, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

After the tournament had been announced to the wizarding world there had been a series of owls sent in from disgruntled parents, talking about how dangerous the tournament was, how the last time it had taken place Voldemort had finally risen to power and how something terrible was _sure_ to happen again now that it was to return. McGonagall had even asked Harry to come forth and explain (with his agreement) that the tournament would be safer this year as Voldemort was this time most certainly dead, and that it truly was about time to reunite young witches and wizards from around Europe once again.

"Well, you heard your uncle's speech." Ginger said, nudging Toire. "Plus with all the rules McGonagall set up, you know. The age line, only seventh years being able to enter again... it's a lot more restricted."

"The boys seemed a bit disappointed about the age bit, did you notice?" Marcy added. "Eternal glory and all. Seems a bit of a shame that they had to pass it up."

Victoire glanced up and was momentarily distracted by Fred Weasley II who was tossing a fanged frisbee that swiftly started following a shrieking first year throughout the corridor. It started heading her way and she swiftly caught it out of the air.

"You know these are banned Fred." she said to her cousin who laughed at her attempt at discipline. "Don't make me write to your mother!" she called as a look of terror crossed his face and he scurried sheepishly away.

"Apparently they're arriving in a huge carriage." Ginger said, getting back to the subject as if nothing had happened.

"Who, Beauxbatons?" Marcy asked, finishing the essay with a flourish.

"Yeah. What did your mum say Toire?"

"Well, she's talked about the tournament before but once she found out that it was going to be held again this year she clammed up. She thinks it would be better if it all were a surprise." Victoire replied simply, tossing the frisbee into the nearest rubbish bin where it growled and promptly started gnawing the side of a snack wrapper.

There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that evening. Nobody had been very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Classes had been dismissed early, Victoire and Ginger hurrying through the halls along with the rest of the students towards the great hall where the heads of house were sorting them into rows.

"First years in front please! No Mr. Stebbins, you are in _fifth _year you stand over there..." Directed Professor Flitwick, waving his tiny arms wildly as he scurried up and down the hall.

"How do you think they're getting here?" Ginger asked as the houses filed down the front steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a crisp clear September evening, dusk was falling and a cloud hung ominously over a transparent-looking moon.

"Haven't a clue. Maybe the train?"

"I doubt it." came a voice to their left. Marcy and the boys had snuck away from their house rows to stand with their friends. Victoire noticed McGonagall looking around the Gryffindor group, brow furrowed.

"Change your hair." Victoire whispered to Teddy, giving his hand a quick squeeze as his hair promptly changed from it's bright teal to a dull brown colour. "What time is it?"

"Just after six." said Sean, checking his watch and staring round towards the Forbidden Forest. "I wish they'd hurry up, I'm freezing."

"Oh hush." Ginger whispered, mimicking Victoire and touching Sean's hand, but instead of smiling like Teddy he awkwardly shifted his hand closer to his robes, leaving Ginger looking deflated.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Clyde spoke up suddenly. Victoire started. All she could hear were the chatter of students and the wind rustling through the forest, but underneath that there was an oddly eerie noise, getting louder and drifting towards them from out of the darkness; a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as thought an immense vacuum cleaner was moving along the river-bed...

"Look at the lake!" yelled Pierce Jordan, pointing towards it.

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water- except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the centre; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks - and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor.

Suddenly and without any warning, an enormous ship rose out of the water, shining in the moonlight. It looked ancient as though it were a resurrected wreck, and finally with a great sloshing noise the ship emerged interlay, floating steadily on the now churning waters. From where they stood they could see people disembarking and making their way up the hill. Once they arrived, Victoire could see they were all wrapped in heavy furs, looking sullen faced and stern. In their lead stood an enormously muscled man, yet it looked quite strange as he did not have much height on him.

"McGonagall!" he cried, as the Headmistress approached, her emerald green robes catching the light from the castle. "Dear me, look at the two of us. Such memories, eh?"

"Indeed." McGonagall smiled. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Professor Reuter. I hope your journey was well?"

"Splendid, splendid, we had a wonderful ride thank you!" Reuter replied cheerily, his large brown beard shaking as he bounced up and down on the soles of his feet, even though the faces of his students behind him hinted otherwise. "Where is darling Maxime, I long to see her again."

"She should be here shortly, I'm sure."

And as if on cue there was a shriek from the Hogwarts crowd and a open mouthed second year stood pointing up into the sky. Everyone looked up, and there they saw something large hurtling across the deep blue sky towards the castle, growing larger and larger all the time.

"It's going to crush us!" screamed a Slytherin girl, practically loosing her head.

"It's not going to crush us, it's landing, look!" shouted Teddy. And he was right. As the object approached the students could make it out as a gigantic, powder-blue, horse drawn carriage, the size of a large house soaring towards them, being pulled along by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, each one the size of an elephant.

Not all the students seemed reassured by Teddy's words though, and there was a bit of a shuffle backwards as the students tried to make enough room for the carriage as possible. With an enormous shatter, the carriage hit the ground causing several of the students to jump as the horses slowed to a trot, then a walk, their red eyes gleaming.

Victoire was honestly quite shocked by the size of the carriage that had carried her mother all the way from France to Hogwarts, and yet everything seemed comfortingly familiar, from the blue of the carriage to the golden emblem blazed on the door that swiftly opened revealing a petit girl who leapt from the carriage and rushed to untie a set of golden stairs that led down from the door. Then Victoire saw a shining high-heeled boot about the size of a child's sled attached to the largest woman she had ever seen.

Of course she had read about and seen pictures of Olympe Maxime, but seeing her in person was much more overwhelming. The fine olive skin, black eyes and of course, the height! She must have been as big as Hagrid.

"Madame Maxime." McGonagall welcomed as the giantess made her way down the steps.

"Mc-gonegall" said Madame Maxime in a deep voice laced with an accent. "'Ouat different conditions we find ourselves in today." she smiled, as the woman embraced.

"Quite." McGonagall said, smiling sadly as a group of powder-blue robed students made their way from the carriage out onto the grounds. "What different times indeed."

"Well that was riveting." Clyde chuckled as the groups made their way back into the school accompanied by the new arrivals. "How big do you suppose that woman's knickers are?" he mused, earning him a smack on the arm from Marcy. "What? Just curious!"

Victoire was about to comment where he could stick his curiosity when she heard a loud gasp from her far left. Startled, she turned to see Madame Maxime had stopped dead in her tracks and was staring... at _her_.

"Mon dieux elle est come un jumeaux!" The headmistress whispered to herself before startling everyone and crossing the hall until she reached Victoire where she towered above her. By now everyone was staring and Victoire could do nothing but stand in the woman's shadow.

"You 'are a Delacoeur?" she asked breathlessly, to which Victoire could only gape until she realized the question had been directed at her.

"Yes?"

Maxime let out an even larger gasp and bend down to sweep Victoire into her arms, embracing and nearly crushing the life out of her.

"Gahh!" Victoire gasped, feeling her lungs squeezed off all air and suddenly she was placed back in her spot dizzily.

"_You look just like your mother, the spitting image!" _She exclaimed in french, taking her hand. "_I have not seen Fleur for many years, you cannot imagine the joy this brings me. Her daughter, here!"_

Victoire was shocked and could not think of what to say, but miraculously words were coming out of her mouth- in french no less.

"_Yes, she always spoke so well of you and your school! It's an honor to finally meet you."_

Maxime beamed, looking somewhat like a proud grandmother.

"Charmant." she sighed. "_You must be introduced to my students, they would be very excited to meet you. They have heard much of your mother since they've been reading up on Tri-Wizard history."_

And just like that, Victoire was being dragged off to her own table as a small heard of Beauxbaton students shuffled behind, leaving her friends with a shocked look that said she would catch up with them later.

**Soo not as much action in this chapter, a lot of it I took out of the book, ex: the arrival of the schools. Next chapter though we're sure to meet a certain new character who if I may say so, will be rather charming. **

**Thanks again for all the great reviews! Until then!**

**-Cal**


	19. The First Task

The weather had changed quite dramatically over the course of two months as the students of Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons entered the cold weeks of November. Classes had just ended for the day and Teddy sat with his friends in the Gryffindor common room as Marcy forced them to get down to work on their potions essays. Teddy especially out of his friends was probably in the worst of moods. It was his sixth year at Hogwarts, and without Quiddich to distract him from the current boring business at hand he had been prepared to rely on Victoire to keep him company through out the year. The summer had been no different from any other, except for the fact that he had noticed some changes in his best friend. She was taller, nowhere near his six foot three but taller all the same, and her face had lost the last of it's child-like image. He had to agree with Madame Maxime, she did look strikingly like her mother. But there had been other changes as well. He couldn't help but notice her figure more ever since the end of the previous year. Something had changed for him that day in the locker room, and now he was noticing things he had never paid attention to before. The curve of her hips, the lean muscles in her legs, the hollow of her throat. She had also had some developments in... other areas as well, and he had to stop himself from glancing at her chest on the rare occasion she wasn't paying attention.

Yes, he had been looking forwards to going back to school and having her with him, even if she wouldn't be cheering him on in Quiddich. But lately, Victoire it seemed, had other plans.

Ever since the day of the welcoming feast when they had been separated to go to their separate tables, she'd been spending more and more time with the students from Beauxbatons. At first it was understandable: she was the daughter of their last champion, it was only natural that they'd flock to her for advice and friendship, along with the fact that Beauxbatons had always gotten on with Ravenclaws. He'd had to watch her chatting with them throughout the whole feast, from the moment they arrived, to when the historic Goblet of Fire had been revealed (much smaller then Teddy had imagined it to be) to the end of the night when she was saying goodbye to them all in the great hall.

"Well that was certainly something." he'd chuckled as she finally rejoined their group for the brief trip it took them all to return to their common rooms.

"Interesting you mean." she'd beamed in return. "Uncle Ron and Harry always said the Beauxbatons were unfriendly, but I don't see what they mean at all. They were simply wonderful."

"Well yeah, I mean your mum is their school hero of course they were to you." Teddy scoffed half heartedly as they rode a staircase from the third to fourth floor.

"Oh shut up Teddy, they were perfectly kind to everyone at our table." she scolded, poking him as a joke. "I am _not _the only reason they were nice to us."

But despite Victoire trying to convince him, this went on to not appear to be true. The following day was when the Goblet was open to all 7th year students to put their names in for entrance to the Tournament. During lunch Victoire must have been approached by seventeen Beauxbatons all asking advice on the contest. In previous years Victoire would have become flustered and red faced at all this attention, but it wasn't just her body that had changed over the summer. Something about her persona as well; she was bolder, more outgoing and hardly shy at all and often could be found with a quick comeback or hilarious wit that in the two months since she'd started her fifth year, had caused boys and even the occasional girl from all three schools to flock to her like moths to flame. Although Teddy liked this new side of her, the one he always knew she had but rarely showed in public, he _definitely _wasn't a fan of her new followers, which seemed to boost her popularity more and more with each passing day but in typical Victoire fashion, did absolutely nothing inflate her perfect ego.

"This is complete rubbish, why are we researching Everlasting Elixirs when we could just be making one?" Clyde complained, sucking on the end of his sugar quill while the actual one lay discarded on his nearly blank page. "The least Slughorn could do is give us the list of ingredients and then-"

But he was interrupted by a burst of laughter as the portrait hole swung open and Ginger and Victoire climbed in, accompanied by three Beauxbatons students, all of them clothes mussed and hair tousled as if they'd just come in from the cold.

"Hey!" Victoire said in greeting as she sat down beside Teddy on the couch, her associates taking seats and widening their little half circle around the fireplace. "You guys remember my friends right?" she asked the Hogwarts group, all of whom nodded and smiled at the Beauxbatons arrivals. They weren't just being polite, they did remember them. These three especially had been hanging around Victoire a lot lately, and it shocked everyone that one of them was Beauxbatons chosen champion.

Teddy glanced up at the trio, two boys and a girl, all of whom looked completely at home in the tiny common room. The girl who was sitting beside Ginger with her chestnut hair and fair complexion was named Natalie, the guy beside her with the curling black hair was her boyfriend Gilles, and the blonde man who'd taken the seat on the edge of the couch beside Victoire was Alexandre.

Teddy remembered Alexandre from the welcoming feast. He'd been sitting just a few people away from Victoire and he remembered watching him strike up a conversation with her. He was a seventh year, and the following evening when his name had been called for Beauxbatons out of the Goblet, along with that of a Durmstrang girl and a Slytherin boy, it was for him Victoire had clapped the hardest. Now he was always following her, making her laugh and chatting with her in french. Of course there were times when Victoire simply spent time with her Hogwarts friends alone, but he was never far behind.

"We were just outside scoping out the grounds for the first task on Friday." Ginger explained, sharing a knowing glance with Natalie. "Alex is ready for pretty much everything, we just really want to know what it'll be." she said excitedly, flashing Alexandre a wide smile which he returned.

"Well, I don't know about everything..." he said modestly. Something that had surprised Teddy about the Beauxbaton students is that their english had seemed to improve. Although they all had accents, most of them spoke the language flawlessly even if they did prefer french.

"Well it's going to be really challenge if it's anything like the last one." Teddy said, trying to let some of his obvious doubt seep into his words as he directed them at Alex. The guy hadn't done anything to offend him, but anyone spending that much time with Victoire could have great motives. He hadn't brought it up to her because the last thing he wanted was a rerun of the previous year's fight.

"Honestly at this stage I hope it's dragons." Alex joked, causing a chuckle from everyone. "At least then I could rely on other's tactics before mine."

Even though Teddy didn't find Alex's words in the least bit funny, he laughed along with everyone else, his eyes glued to Victoire for good measure.

Friday came faster then Victoire had expected, thick white clouds rolling in over the grounds and casting a cold breeze through the November air. The first task was set to go on after lunch on the Quiddich pitch which had been under construction for some time being built into a large arena of sorts, one she heard would be able to survive thousands of elements. She'd woken up early that day for breakfast and was on her way to the great hall when she ran into Alexandre accompanied by some of his Beauxbaton friends, all of whom seemed to be wishing him good luck.

"Hey!" he said, noticing her as his friends departed and she walked over to join him.

"_Feeling alright?"_ she asked, noticing he was paler then usual. When Victoire had heard the Tri Wizard Tournament would be coming to Hogwarts she expected a casual year with some new students. She'd never thought she would be making such interesting friends.

Ever since the Max incident the year before, she'd always been cautious around other guys who weren't Teddy, Sean, Jensen or Clyde, but when she met Alex he hadn't tried to make a move on her or even flirt for that matter. He was friendly, and in the time they spent together, she found herself convinced that he was honestly just after that: friendship and advice, even if he did have half the girls and Hogwarts and nearly all the single Beauxbatons girls falling at his feet.

"_As alright as I could feel I suppose." _he replied, loosening his collar as they entered the great hall.

"_Try to eat something." _she said to him as they took their seats at the Ravenclaw table, nodding at others who passed to wish him luck. "_My mum always said that was something she wished she'd done before each of her tasks, except she was too nervous. You need that extra strength._" he tried to smile but she could see how stressed out he was about the whole situation, his grey eyes tired, his pallor almost green. They ate in silence, Victoire figuring he shouldn't talk more then he needed to. It wasn't ten minutes later though that Professor McGonagall stood at her table, the hall growing silent.

"Could we have the champions please make their way to the tent set up by the Quiddich Pitch at this time."

Alex cast Victoire a final, nervous glance before standing. She squeezed his hand in reassurance, but his eyes had left hers. He was scanning the table for someone, his eyes drifting over each face until they landed on a petit girl with thick black hair from Beauxbatons at the end of the table. She looked up and their eyes met once before she gave him a small smile. Only then did he squeeze her hand back and made his way out of the hall with the other champions, leaving Victoire puzzled at who the girl was and what Alex's relationship was with her.

Teddy and the others were already half way to the pitch along with the rest of the school when Victoire caught up to them.

"How's Alex?" Marcy asked, offering Toire a piece of toast she'd stashed as they trouped across the frozen ground.

"Nervous as hell, but I think he'll get through it." she said, waving away the toast which Clyde promptly snatched up and devoured in one bite, nearly choking on the last bit as Jensen thumped his back repeatedly. She slid into step beside Teddy, the two of them at the end of their row of friends and he found that he couldn't stop sneaking glances at her profile, the way her nose turned up slightly at the end, her full lips and long lashes, arched cheekbones and-

"Let's get good seats." she said, stirring him from his daydream and forcing him back to reality.

The group headed their way up into the stands that overlooked the re-vamped Quiddich pitch. From this stand point the group could see that the pitch had been cut off as a sort of circular small arena, the walls nearly a hundred feet high making escape from the space seem impossible.

"What do you think they're going to have to do?" Sean asked, looking nervous.

"We'll see now, won't we?" Ginger replied pointing as McGonagall stood in a space reserved for the judges and all the students stared down upon her.

"Welcome students, teachers and all other guests to the first task of this year's Tri-Wizard Tournament! Today our three champions will be sent one by one into this arena for their task. Here, they will be faced with a series of creatures and beasts, each one they must defeat, _without inflicting death. _Points will be deducted if any of the beasts are killed.

"After the champion has defeated all of the creatures facing them, they will be judged by the heads of schools as well as our official guest and last champion of the tournament, Harry Potter!"

Teddy and Victoire's mouths fell open as they scrambled for a look at Harry who low and behold sat at the table below beside Madame Maxime smiling at the crowd around him that continued to cheer.

"Did you know about this?" Victoire asked Teddy, a wide smile stretched on her face as she clapped along with the rest of the school.

"No clue!" he shouted over the noise, returning her smile with his own.

"Let the first task... begin!"

The stands shook with applause as all eyes watched the shape of the Durmstrang champion make her way into the arena, her stalky build and short brown hair less dominant from the given distance. She wore a red shirt and fitted black pants, her hair pulled back into a short ponytail, her wand drawn and ready. The whole crowd seemed to be holding it's breath when suddenly, a crack appeared in the arena and there was a tremendous blast. Through the crack there seemed to be several creatures approaching the Durmstrang girl. As the creatures got closer there were several cries of disgust from the audience, and the expression on the champion's face strongly mimicked the sounds.

"Skrewts." Teddy muttered to Victoire who shuddered, remembering the stories Harry and Ron used to tell about them. Casting a glance down at Harry she saw his expression to be one of utter revulsion. The Durmstrang girl burst into action and started cursing the beasts, but soon found out that any jinx simply bounced off their shiny grey armor. She let out a cry of frustration, and Victoire leaned forward to get a better look as suddenly a flash of realization crossed the girl's face. The next thing they knew, she was making the Skrewts rise into the air all at once, flinging them higher and higher, and then blasting curses at their unprotected underbellies. She got the first five, but unfortunately she wasn't so fast with the sixth, and it hurtled towards the ground from it's height, gravity crushing it by it's own weight into the ground and killing it instantly.

"Ooh, points off for that unfortunately..." Clyde said sadly, but a huge smile was etched on his face to contradict his tone. Like a typical boy, he was loving the action.

Before the Durmstrang girl( who's name turned out to be Rika) was faced with her next target, a sudden change of atmosphere took place inside the arena. Suddenly strong winds were blowing and Rika shivered in her thin clothes. Snow appeared and in a matter of moments she was facing a giant creature, twice the size of Hagrid, covered head to toe in thick white fur, an angry expression on it's face.

Time passed as the champions battled on, Rika defeating the Abominable snowman in record time, and going on to fend herself surprisingly well against her final beast, a Ukrainian Ironbelly ("The largest dragon on earth!" exclaimed Sean), which true to it's name, ended up being knocked down not by a shot to it's stomach but a specifically well aimed curse to the eye.

After Rika was finished she was rushed off to the infirmary to treat some minor burns and cuts, it was announced her scores would be revealed at the end along with the other contenders.

Next to the arena was Jay Bennet, a Slytherin who happened to be on the Quiddich team and was the Hogwarts champion.

"I can't believe we got this prick instead of Jolsbee." Clyde complained loudly as a couple of fourth year Slytherins shot him a dirty look. He was referring to the Gryffindor captain who had also entered his name in the Goblet with the hopes of getting the honor of competing.

First in the ring for Bennet was a vicious looking creature with a lion's head, a goat's body and a dragon's tail that Victoire recognized as a Chimaera. It growled loudly at Bennet before leaping towards him, it's tiny legs surprisingly strong, nearly getting a bite of him before it was sent whizzing into the wall with a stunning spell, before it continued it's battle.

The second beasts for Jay were a swarm of large bright blue insects that let off an extremely loud buzzing that could be heard throughout the stadium.

"What are those?" Sean asked, looking uncomfortable (he hated bugs in general.)

"Billywigs." Victoire explained. "They're pretty tame actually, I'm surprised they use them. The only dangerous thing is their sting can cause severe giddiness and levitation. We've used their stingers as potions ingredients actually..."

But for such a simple creature, Jay didn't seem to be particularly aware of this fact, and the whole crowd gasped as he was stung just as he released a gas that killed all the bugs instantly. He had defeated them, but he'd lost points and now he was suddenly waltzing about as if he was drunk!

"Oh God, I hope the next thing's not to dangerous, he's not going to be able to fight it in this state." Marcy murmured, hiding behind her fingers.

But she didn't get her wish. Apparently the judges had agreed with Victoire on the fact that the Billywig was too easy, and the crowd let out shrieks of horror as an enormous Basilisk slithered into the ring, Jay Bennet completely oblivious to it's arrival.

Victoire hadn't even bothered to watch the following bit, using the time to shut her eyes in fear of what was going on as she squeezed Teddy's arm which was draped around her shoulders in comfort. Teddy on the other hand was not complaining as he was currently closer to Toire then he had been in months, and he had the pleasure of watching someone he hated be stalked by a Basilisk all at once.

Unfortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it,) a whistle was called and Bennet was sent out of the arena due to the judges deciding it was impossible for Jay to defeat the snake in his currant state and that he would have surely been killed. He lost most of his points, but remained alive and later on he would go on to boast that that was all that mattered.

"This leaves Alex then." Victoire said, peeking out from behind her fingers to stare down into the ring as her tall, striking friend emerged onto the pitch. She could see him trembling from where she sat, but in an instant he was still, his posture tall, looking like the spitting image of a storybook hero.

Suddenly the arena became very dark and Victoire had to squint to get a better look. She saw Alex was doing the same, and watched his mouth form the words _Lumos_ as his wand lit up just in time for the crowd to see what appeared to be a half-inch thick black coat descending upon the Beauxbaton champion.

"Look out!" Victoire cried, along with several other onlookers in the stands and Alex leapt out of the way, staggering back from what she knew to be a Lethifold, more commonly know as the living shroud.

"If it gets to close it'll smother him!" she cried fearfully, but she needn't worry because just then Alex let out the loud cry of "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A blast of white light erupted from his wand which immediately formed itself into a lion which proceeded to roar and chase the Lethifold into the ground before it escaped out the crack the way it had come, leaving the arena to lighten and Alex to bask in the loud cheers that followed as his patronus disappeared as quickly as it had come.

But it wasn't over yet. The second beasts Alex was faced with was a swarm of Acromantula, the giant spiders that lived in the forest, but he defeated them quickly stunning them all so their living bodies remained frozen in a curled up position on the ground, one that made Sean shudder.

It wasn't until the last beast that Alex had any real trouble. Out of the crack in the wall came a Manticore, it's mutated human-like head resting on the body of a lion which ended with the pointed tail of a scorpion.

It seemed that the Manticore could be defeated easily with any powerful curse, but what it had that none of the other creatures did was a capable sense of intelligence and speech. They could see it talking to Alex, it's warped mouth forming words they could not understand from their distance, taunting him by dodging his every curse and spell.

It was almost a matter of luck that he defeated it, having missed his intended target when he shot the spell and the manticore thinking he would hit dead on, and therefor it left into the path of the spell that was it's downfall.

Once it was officially declared defeated, the crowd roared in triumph, and Alex shook his fists in happiness as he was clapped on the back by fellow admirers.

Once all the champions had returned to the stage, Bennet still looking a bit high, the judges proceeded to give their scores.

Rika stepped forwards and the audience watched as one by one the judges shot silver ribbons into the air announcing their chosen scores.

From McGonagall and Maxime, an 8. From Professor Reuter, a gleaming silver nine, and from Harry another eight.

Next up was Jay, who aside from his own house received several boos until the people making them were glared down by McGonagall. He received poor marks all around though, a five from McGonagall, a six from Maxime, a four from Reuter and finally a five from Harry.

As Alex stepped up to the middle of the stage Victoire awaited his marks anxiously.

From McGonagall, a silver nine slid up and glimmered in the air. From Maxime, a ten!

"Well she is his student..." Teddy added before Victoire whacked him.

From Reuter he got: An eight. "Not bad, not bad." Clyde said admiringly as Teddy shot him a look. And finally from Harry he was given... a ten!

Now even Teddy was shocked as Alex pumped his fists in triumph at placing first. Victoire cheered and screamed along with the rest of her friends and at the end, even a grim Teddy broke in and started applauding along with the rest.

"Well this brilliant!" Ginger said as the girls prepared themselves for bed that night. There had been a huge party hosted by the Ravenclaws for Alex in their common room and now it was long into the morning, the party finally finishing up downstairs. The students from other houses (no Slytherins though) had already snuck back to their common rooms, leaving the Ravenclaws to clean up their own messes.

"I'll say, did you see how happy Alex was!" Victoire yawned cheerily, climbing into bed.

"And now we can look forwards to the good part of this!" Ginger squealed, pulling the covers over herself. Victoire sat up and looked at Ginger quizzically.

"Wait... what good part?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Ginger rolled her eyes.

"The Yule Ball of course!"

**WHEW. Okay, so that was by far the longest chapter yet :)**

**I wanted to do something big because unfortunately I start school again tomorrow, and won't have a lot of time to update for a bit, and next weekend I'm going away to a ranch so I won't be home for that either : /**

**But hey! Yule Ball! Sooo I want to know who you guys think Toire's going to the ball with! Give me your guesses because she is **_**not **_**going stag ;)**

**Again, thanks so much for the amazing feedback and reviews. **

**I'll try to update as soon as I can what with starting junior year and all. **

**xx**

**-Cal**


	20. Guessing Game

It was becoming rapidly clear to the students of Hogwarts that they would not be returning home for Christmas that year, due to the popularity and excitement that was being caused by the Yule Ball.

It had been announced officially a week after the first task to the rest of the school, even though everyone already knew about it. After the first task Victoire had spent loads more time with the Beauxbatons, truly enjoying their company. She couldn't help but notice though, every time they entered the great hall that Alex would always searched for that same Beauxbatons girl he had seeked the comfort of during the morning of the first task. Not that she was jealous, she was learning quickly that she simply had no romantic feelings for Alex no matter how handsome he may be. To put it simply he just wasn't her type, even though she did enjoy his company and humor.

Now as they entered December the snow covered grounds were trodden with footprints and students, all taking advantage of the beautiful crisp cold days. The trees were laced with white and Hagrid's cabin seemed to have an endless trail of smoke coming out of the chimney which was actually quite comforting during the cold month.

"So what do you make of all this?" asked Teddy. It was a rare occasion, he had spotted Victoire leaving the castle after lunch by herself and he knew she had a spare block then, so he'd followed her deciding to take the opportunity to finally get her alone and skip Herbology. He had no interest in risking boils from bubotubers that afternoon anyway.

The pair of them were walking side by side through the shallow snow, their shoes crunching on the ice, black robes whipping out behind them and their house scarves wrapped around their necks. Victoire was walking slightly faster in order to keep up with Teddy's long lingering strides, but other then that she was quite comfortable. Teddy on the other hand couldn't stop sneaking glances at her out of the corner of his eye. Her hair was tied back in her signature sloppy ponytail and her lightly freckled cheeks were pink from the brisk wind that nipped at their necks. They walked past a group of third years who watched them go by before erupting into a fit of whispered conversation, their eyes still trained on the couple's backs.

Teddy Lupin was obviously well known as being one of the most popular boys at school, and also for being that-guy-who-broke-Max-Northwick's-nose-last-year, and had been for a few years now being handsome, a great quiddich player, not to mention the son and godson of two of the greatest wizards ever born. His hair made him noticeable from miles away and if it wasn't that that told you he was coming it was his laugh, brilliant, one that traveled and couldn't help but make you smile.

Victoire on the other hand had only really gained her popularity at the beginning of the year. She had been known a bit for the scandal at the end of the last year and for being friends with Teddy, but her beauty and good nature had really put her on the map this year. With the Yule ball only three weeks away, the invitations had been rolling in for the Veela goddess of Hogwarts.

"Make of what?" she asked him, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder as her hand swung closer and closer to Teddy's, a fact she didn't notice but he couldn't help but pay extra attention to.

"This Yule Ball business." he said, waving his hand in the air to emphasize the general subject. "You're not a fan of it are you? The dresses, the prepping..."

"I don't really see the harm." she said shrugging. "It's just a ball. We're young, lets have our fun, you know?"

"Yeah I guess." he said, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Besides," she added. "I know the only reason you brought that up is so I'll ask you how many invites you've gotten so far." she smirked, causing his ears to turn slightly pink but he laughed it off.

"Well, if you're not curious..." he said, wondering why his voice sounded so much like he was flirting.

"Oh go on then. Tell me." she said, a grin sliding onto her face causing him to feel a little twist in his stomach.

"Guess." he said, wanting to see her reaction. She cocked an eyebrow. "I'll bet you five sickles you don't even come close." he added to give her a bit of encouragement.

"Hmm." she contemplated. "Well let's add up the pros here." she said. "You're popular, brave, a quiddich player," she started counting off the traits on her fingers, "...funny, friendly, well known half-badass..."

"What do you mean _half _badass?"

"...you get decent grades, and you're not like everyone else." she finished.

"Not to mention my stunning good looks and charm." he joked.

"Well that bit was obvious, I didn't think I had to add it but if you insist." she said simply, nudging him in the side. "As a rough number though? There are several hundred girls at our school, about three hundred and fifty of them would probably find you attractive, but only about a seventy confident enough to ask you... so I'll go with something in the high twenties. Plus we've still got three weeks left." she concluded, smiling full out at him as he raised his eyebrows.

"Wow, you're close."

"Close enough to gain five sickles?"

"You were off by about six, so yeah." he grumbled jokingly, reaching deep into his pocket to pull out three of the shiny silver coins. "I'll pay you the rest later."

"Fair enough." she said, pocketing the money and smiling smugly.

"Woah there wait a minute. My turn now." he said, as they pulled into an alcove where they both sat down on a bench and looked out across the grounds. In the distance Teddy could just make out the buildings of Hogsmeade and the faint trickles of smoke curling up into the air from their chimney pipes.

"Oh come on." she scoffed, breathing warm air onto her hands which were clad in fingerless gloves Mrs. Weasley had knit for her the month prior. "We both know that's not necessary."

"Scared I'll guess dead on?" he asked, a part of him truly curious about the number but trying not to show it.

"Fine." she huffed faking moodiness. "Go ahead."

"_Well,_" he said grandly, stretching out his fingers. "You're funny, smart, a brilliant quiddich player,"

She cut her eyes in his direction curiously, a smile forming on her lips at the compliments.

"...always ready with a comeback, interesting, well read, adventurous, witty..."

"Now you're just embarrassing me." she mumbled as he went on.

"...loyal, honest, forgiving, modest, you never get jealous, and you're confident." he finished, stretching his fingers so the knuckles cracked. "Was that more then ten? Sorry." he said, obviously not at all.

"And yet you forget to mention _my _good looks and charm." she mocked.

"Well anyone call tell you've got that just by looking at you." he said shrugging. "So if I had to guess out of all the guys who I know wish they could be your date, you've been asked by about thirty or so already." he said. When she didn't say anything he looked at her quizzically.

"What? What is it?"

"Nothing." she said, avoiding eye contact but he noticed suddenly that she was blushing.

"Was I close?" he asked, but again, silence. "I wasn't was I. How far off?"

She mumbled something he couldn't quite make out so he leaned in.

"What?"

"You were off." she said, her face blushing even more.

"By how much?" he asked. "Come on, I can take it." he said, grinning to lessen his intensity.

She was quiet for a moment before before speaking up.

"...sixty..." she mumbled and his eyebrows shot up.

"_Sixty_?" he asked, all kind casualties gone. "You've been asked by _sixty _blokes?"

"Well you asked!" she cried, exasperated.

"Bloody hell Victoire... well what did you say? Did you accept any of them?"

"I didn't ask you that!"

"Then go ahead, ask me!"

She sighed. "Fine. Teddy, please do tell me if you accepted any of your admirers invitations to the Yule Ball, which I was under the impression you weren't even interested in until just now."

"No, I turned them all down." he said bluntly. "Now tell me if you did."

She rolled her eyes with gusto, something he could have sworn she'd picked up from Hermione. "If you must know, I turned them all down." she said, and Teddy couldn't help but grin inside. Of course she'd say no. He knew his Toire.

"...half of them I didn't even know and the others were either rude, way to young or just... I don't know, they just didn't seem right." she sighed, exasperated. "I might not go with anyone, just tag along stag with Ginger if she doesn't get asked."

They sat in silence for a moment when suddenly an idea dawned on Teddy. It was brilliant. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before and now that it was in his head he knew he had to act on it. If Toire didn't have anyone in mind, and he didn't have anyone in mind except her, then maybe... if he put it out there slyly... maybe they could go together. As friends of course, for her benefit, and maybe his since he was still faced with the daily confusion of what his feelings were for this girl he used to feel almost sisterly affection for.

"Hey." he said speaking up, his voice cracking somewhat but he ignored it. "I just got an idea."

"Yeah?" she asked, her breath coming out in a little white cloud.

"Yeah. I'm thinking... if you don't have anyone in mind to go with, and I haven't had anyone catch my eye... that maybe we should-"

_SLOSH! _In that mere instant, the moment before he was going to ask her, he was struck in the face with a dripping wet snowball which sprayed him and Victoire with icy slush.

The cold liquid dribbled down his shirt collar and he shivered while spluttering in the wind that seemed twice as cold when mixed with the water on his skin. He heard a cackle from the distance and looking up he saw Trinity Warrington, Max Northwick and some other Slytherins accompanied by... and he could hardly believe it, Lucinda Bones.

"That complete chav." Victoire spat angrily, as she glared across the ground towards their attackers, Teddy's words long forgotten. "And she calls herself a Gryffindor. That coward, hiding behind those prats like that..." she said, spite thick in her voice. "Come on, lets go inside and get warmed up."

Toire stood with Teddy who was beet red and busy brushing snow out of his pink hair, the obvious sign of his embarrassment. He followed Victoire back into the castle while she continued to curse the others, all words from his proposition before forgotten as she was greeted once again by her Beauxbaton friends, leaving him to follow her through the Great Hall and question for what would have been the hundredth time just what he was feeling for her.

"I'm honestly getting tired of this." Ginger complained as they got ready for bed nearly two weeks later. Even though Christmas break had already started and classes were over until the new year, the school was still crowded with people awaiting Christmas day as well as the ball. Ginger had been trying to send hints to Sean for weeks that she wanted him to ask her, and had come to the conclusion that he either was completely blind towards any female approach, or gay. Victoire had decided not to mention the fact that maybe he just wasn't interested with her friend's feelings in mind.

Marcy would obviously be going with Clyde, and Natalie and Gilles had already shown off their clothes for the event to everyone. But to the surprise of the whole school and the delight of some certain students, several popular students such as Victoire, Teddy, Alexandre, Jensen and others, had not yet accepted invitations to the ball, leaving more time for more and more people to ask them. None of them seemed to mind, but it was becoming increasingly annoying for Ginger who even though she'd gotten her fair share of invites, none of them were from the boy she wanted most.

"I mean, I've liked him for _years._ _Years, _Toire! And he still can't take the hint. It's hopeless!"

"Oh don't worry Ginge, it'll work out eventually." she crooned, climbing into bed. Her mind was actually rather distracted for the time being. Earlier that day she'd glanced across the Great Hall to see Violet Addison, a Hufflepuff girl in her year, approach Teddy nervously. She watched as Violet tapped him on the shoulder, blushing furiously as she mumbled out what must have been an invitation to go to the ball with her. She'd felt a rush of... something upon seeing this. Tension and something else. Almost spite, but she didn't dislike Violet at all so that couldn't have been it. And then relief as she watched Teddy smile but clearly turn her away, sending a disappointed Violet back to her table where her friends comforted her and spoke words of encouragement.

This was her last thought before drifting off to sleep. Teddy's face in her mind, his teal hair bright against the dull browns, blondes and blacks that lined the other tables.

"It was never like this at Beauxbatons you know."

Victoire was sitting in the Great Hall with Alex as they finished off lunch the following day and they were discussing the constant invites to the ball they were receiving. "I wasn't never very popular. Just an average person." he explained, his accent lingering on the end of each word. "Maybe it is because I am champion?"

"Oh come on Alex, it can't just be that. You know you're handsome." she said, not even flinching at the words as he blushed slightly. "There's got to be a girl you've got in mind for asking."

She watched him carefully as she asked this, and sure enough his eyes flickered over to the petit Beauxbatons girl sitting near the end of the table talking with her friends, her dark eyes crinkled at the corners as she laughed with the rest of them and talked on in rapid french. She almost expected him to say something, to finally reveal this hidden fact she'd noticed about him. But instead he gave her a final lingering look before turning back to her.

"No, I can't really think of anyone." he explained plainly, giving the impression of boredom which tweaked some annoyance in her that she decided to bury. "But what about you? You've got many admirers, surely someone you know would be suitable." he added kindly and Victoire shrugged even though an image of Teddy flashed through her mind.

"No, not really." she said shrugging. "I guess we're in the same boat this time."

"Hmm." he said, going back to take another bite of his meal, a strand of his blonde hair falling in his eyes. Suddenly he smiled.

"You know..." he said, catching her eye and raising an eyebrow, "we could always go together."

She guessed her face must have given away her shock, since he let out a laugh. It wasn't that she hadn't thought of it, going as friends with someone, she'd just thought that if it would ever happen... well... she would end up going with Teddy.

"We'd just go as friends of course." he added, fully aware that the two of them didn't feel that way about each other. "And if we've got no one else to go with..." he trailed off leaving the rest up to her. She questioned it a minute, and then with a smile, threw caution to the wind.

"Alex, it would be my pleasure." she beamed.

**HEY GUYS!**

**So hoooly crap I've been getting the NICEST and most SUPPORTIVE reviews on my fics lately and I just gotta say, I love you all. Seriously. Thanks for all your guesses on who Toire would be going to the ball with, I love reading your ideas and such. The next chapter is the Yule ball and I want to hear what you think's gonna go down! **

**I've been getting some comments telling me to "get on with it and get them together already!" lately. ACK I AM SO SORRY. I know, it's awful, and i feel super guilty everytime I read one but believe me the romance is gonna take a huge step in the hot direction in the next few chapters so hopefully that will make up for it. **

**Once again, I love you all and thanks for the feedback!**

**xx**

**-Cal**


	21. Remember the Past

With a week left to the ball, the castle was in full swing of festivities. Rumors were spiraling about dates, and there had been a rather nasty one about Victoire going around, probably caused by Trinity Warrington, that she had turned everyone down because they weren't pureblood. This was easily disproven because she had turned down her fair share of purebloods who were among the group, but she had decided to tell people that she had finally accepted a date anyway. That news spread faster still and on the Tuesday before the ball as Teddy sat in the Great Hall buttering toast, it finally reached his ears.

"I heard she's going with the Beauxbatons champion." Said a Hufflepuff girl from behind him, and his ears pricked up in curiosity. "Figures." said her friend grumpily. "They're both gorgeous and popular. They can go off and have their own little perfect party by themselves for all I care."

"Oh don't be mean." scolded her friend. "Victoire's really nice, everyone knows that. It's not like she's popular for her looks."

The friend snorted. "Yeah. Right."

This was enough for Teddy. He pushed his bench back from the table roughly, causing it to screech on the stone floor and the two girls sent him a look. Grabbing his bag he made his way out of the hall, briefly noticing his hair was a dull grey showing his gloomy state. So she was going with pretty boy Alex. Well that was fine with him. He could go with anyone he wanted. _Except her _he thought sadly, turning the corner and nearly crashing into a fifth year girl with wild orange hair.

"Oh, sorry..." he mumbled, trying to slide his way past but the girl spoke his name.

"Teddy, it's me." she repeated, and looking down at her he realized it was Ginger, but not the Ginger he was used to. She looked like hell; her hair frazzled and wild, not as contained as he was used to. She had dark circles under her eyes and her robes had a strange green stain on the front.

"Ginger, hey." he said, trying to hide his surprise.

"Something wrong?" she asked, nodding to his hair.

"I could ask you the same thing." he said, dodging the subject slyly. To his surprise, she let out a huge breath and looked around disappointedly. "It's Sean." she huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. Teddy quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh come on," she sighed, frustrated. "Don't tell me I haven't made it obvious."

He let out a laugh and was glad when a turquoise strand of hair fell into his eyes, assuring him he didn't look like an aging old man anymore. "Well, if you want the truth..."

"Right! So don't tell me it's my fault that he hasn't asked me to the ball yet." she grumbled, matching his pace as they walked down the corridor together. "I've made it perfectly clear, and he still won't ask me."

"Well, you know Sean." Teddy said shrugging. "He just needs a bit of... motivation."

"Motivation like how?" she asked dully. "I've tried everything except slipping him a love potion, and believe me, I've considered that one an awful lot too."

"No, I mean _motivation, _you know? Find someone nice to take you to the ball. Get dressed up. Show him what he's missing out on." he said, nudging her in the ribs. Aside from Toire, Ginger was probably his best girl friend, and although she could be a bit _too _girly for his taste at times, she was really an amazing witch. In the years he'd known her, she'd shown kindness, wit, brains and humor. She always stuck by Victoire when she needed her, and was fair to everyone who hadn't done her harm.

"Well that sounds like a great idea Teddy, except that the ball's a week away." she sighed, frustrated that she hadn't tried his plan sooner. "Everyone worthwhile is taken."

"Hey." Teddy said, a thought striking him and he glanced down at his friend. "Do you want to go with me?"

She was so surprised she nearly stopped in her tracks and looked up at him quizzically. "With you?" she repeated, and he shrugged.

"I need a date, you need a date, and everyone else worthwhile is taken." he said, basically repeating what she had just said. "How 'bout it?"

"Well..." she said, hesitating. "I had sort of thought you would be asking someone else." she said lightly and he felt a drop in his stomach.

"What do you mean?" he asked her, trying to come off as surprised but just ended up sounding tense.

"I know, Teddy." she said looking at him honestly. "It's been pretty clear to me for awhile now. I just thought you would act on it sooner."

He stopped walking and grabbed her arm, pulling her into an alcove.

"What exactly are we talking about here?" he whispered, wanting to get the subject clear.

"What do you _think _we're talking about?" she asked, eyes squinted, smile playing at her lips.

"Come on Ginger, don't play with me like that." he said sternly and she rolled her eyes. "What's this about?"

"_It _is about you and Victoire." she said as he heart plunged into his stomach and his organs twisted. He let out a long sigh, unaware of it until it was gone.

"Don't feel bad. I'm supportive of the idea actually. You two are perfect for each other, you just haven't noticed it yet." she said bluntly.

"We're not _perfect for each other._" he said hurriedly, trying to get her to quiet down.

"Oh quit lying to yourself Teddy." she smirked, waving his ideas away. "I can see it all over your face, you're in love with her-"

"WOAH!" he said, causing a group of fourth years to send them suspicious looks as they passed. "Woah!" he said, softer this time. "I am not_ in_ _love _with Victoire."

"Suit yourself." she said shrugging, clearly not believing him as his heart tried frantically to keep up with his head. Suddenly her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Oh I see what you're doing here!" she said happily. "You're following your own advice! Go to the ball with me, make Victoire see what she doesn't know she wants! That's brilliant Teddy, you came up with that?"

That hadn't been at all what he had intended, but it sounded good as Ginger said it, so he just nodded as they merged their way back into the hall traffic.

"In that case then, yes I will go to the ball with you." she said smiling as she neared potions. "Great plan Teddy, I can't wait till my dress gets here in the post." she beamed, waving as she disappeared into the room. Teddy simply stood there dumbfounded.

It looked like he had a date to the ball after all.

On the night of Christmas Eve that year the group of friends were all refuged together in the Gryffindor common room. The Beauxbatons students had gone back to their carriage for the night in order to make some last minute arrangements for the next day, leaving the Hogwarts friends to finally get some time alone together. Ginger and Sean occupied the two armchairs on opposite ends of the couch, Ginger deliberately ignoring Sean as he sat there merrily unaware. On the couch Marcy was curled up against Clyde who was acting surprisingly calm and every now and then would reach down to stroke her hair and she would lean deeper into him. Victoire was squished tightly between Jensen and Teddy, a fact that Teddy found quite comforting as she readjusted her position on lean against his side.

"I wish you'd tell me who you were going to the ball with." she said, stifling a yawn in the light of the dying fire. "I hate living in suspense."

Ginger had come up with the idea to keep their dates a secret until the night of the ball. "That way", she'd said, "it'll really hit them hard."

Teddy had rolled his eyes at the idea, but whatever made Ginger happy...

"It's a surprise." Ginger said now, glancing at Sean who did nothing to react at her news. "Believe me, it's not a huge deal."

Victoire had surprisingly not even bothered to ask Teddy how his search for a date was going, which although it made it easy not to lie to her, bothered him a bit.

"Hey Toire! Wake up! Happy Christmas!"

Victoire rolled over in her bed, her blue eyes blinking in the early light and taking in the now focusing figure that turned out to be Marcy.

"Happy Christmas to you to." she smiled, sitting up in bed to see her friends, Ginger already half way through her stack of presents. "How did you get up here?"

"Oh please." Marcy scoffed, waving away the question. "You Ravenclaw's aren't the only ones who can answer a riddle. _Despite my size I'm easy to miss, but caught under me you'll be forced with a kiss._" she repeated in a sing-songy voice.

"Mistletoe." Victoire mused. "Festive. Have you opened all your gifts yet?"

"Yep. Thanks by the way, I loved the locket you got me." she beamed, pulling out a gold locket from under her sweater and showing it to her. Victoire had bought one for herself and Ginger as well, placing a picture of the three of them inside. She'd gotten it in London over the summer at a muggle jewelry store. On the front was an intricate design with three sunflowers wrapping around each other before disappearing under the clasp. "It's actually a bit like what I got you." Marcy smiled, handing Toire a red and gold wrapped present that felt and weighed about the same as a book.

"Literature, Marcy?" she mocked, tearing the paper off, but was pleasantly surprised to see a brown leather bound photo album. Inside were dozens of moving photos of their group of friends. Their dates shifted from their very first year all the way up to the previous month. Victoire smiled down at the album, taking in one particularly good shot from the previous summer. It was of Victoire and the boys playing Quiddich at the Burrow the week everyone had visited. There was Clyde, attempting to knock Sean off his broom, Jensen laughing in the background and in the center of it all, Teddy and Victoire still playing the game; tossing the quaffle back and forth while speeding towards their goalposts and then accidentally whacking a laughing Clyde in the back of the head with it.

"This is amazing Marcy, thank you." she beamed, hugging her friends.

"Lets get some breakfast." Ginger announced, popping up from beside her bed, fully dressed, hair pulled back into a messy bun which she'd un-ceremoniously stuck her wand through. "I'm starving for waffles."

Fifteen minutes later the girls were entering the Great Hall. The room was busier then normal and full of conversation surrounding the ball that would be held that evening. Victoire spotted Teddy from across the room, his turquoise hair even more dominant today against the red sweater he wore that Victoire instantly recognized as a classic Weasley jumper.

Victoire had gotten one as well, just as she had every year. She'd put in on back in her room, the golden V standing out against the sky blue background of the sweater. As the group approached their friends at the Gryffindor table Victoire slid up behind Teddy and squeezed his shoulders before taking a seat beside him, feeling a momentary bit of surprise at the muscle she'd felt there but was soon distracted by the smile he gave her as she took her seat.

"Happy Christmas." he said, sliding down the bench a bit to make room for her.

"To you too." she beamed. "Can't wait for your present." she said, elbowing his side lightly. "It's had better be good you know, I've got high expectations." she joked.

Every year on Christmas the two always exchanged their gifts after dinner. This year though, since the ball would be taking place then they'd decided to do it right before it was time to start preparing, which would be shortly after lunch. She thought back to the gift she'd gotten Teddy for this year. She was by far his closest friend, but still. The gift she'd picked out was awfully personal and she hoped it would be okay that she'd give it to him.

"Don't think I don't have them too now." he said winking. "I expect nothing but the best from the infamous Victoire Weasley."

The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur of snowball fights, soaked sweaters, matted hair and laughter. At lunch the crowd of students who'd escaped to the grounds to participate in this mass snow battle trudged into the hall for lunch, their clothes dripping snow and slush all over the stone floors causing people to slip and slide their way to their tables. After a lunch of dripping roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes and chips, Ginger made the announcement.

"Well, I'm off." she stated, standing up from the table, her cheeks still pink from the cold outside, her jeans sagging from the melted snow they'd been drenched in. "The ball is in seven hours, and that's not nearly enough time to get ready." she grinned. "So I'll be seeing you all very soon."

The group waved goodbye as she headed out the door towards the Ravenclaw common room and Victoire turned to Teddy.

"Anytime you're ready."

He turned round in his seat to glance at the sky above them, then at his watch.

"I'm free now." he smiled.

The pair made their way out onto the grounds again, dodging another ongoing snowball fight just like the last time they'd been alone together. They crossed the grounds towards a snow covered gazebo that stood empty in the bright surroundings and climbed the stairs up onto the platform. Victoire hoisted herself up onto the railing of the structure and Teddy did the same beside her.

"You go first." she said, leaning back and letting her now dry hair float down behind her.

Teddy glanced down once at his gloved hands, his fingers entwined together before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a little black bag.

"Happy Christmas." he said, reaching over and handing it to Victoire who's eyes had widened somewhat at the gift. She took the bag tentatively and reached inside.

Her hands felt something metal and she pulled out a long chain that was attached to a locket not unlike the one she'd given her friends. She gasped slightly at the simple beauty of it, a plain face and shining silver in the light.

"Open it." Teddy said softly.

She ran her thumb over the surface and pressed down on the little latch that held the two pieces together. The front swung open and inside she was touched to see a familiar photograph. It was a copy of one that was in the Burrow on the crowded wall of family pictures. In it were Teddy and Victoire as children the year before Teddy was meant to go off to Hogwarts. They stood side by side in front of the Burrow, hands deep in their pockets, laughing. There was a height difference already with Teddy standing several inches above Victoire, his jeans torn and muddy, a part of her dress stained with what looked like lemonade.

She bit her lip and smiled to herself, still watching as the young versions of themselves fidgeted and poked each other for the photo.

Teddy watched her carefully. The second before she'd taken the locket out of the bag he'd had a fleeting thought of worry: wasn't a locket or any sort of jewelry for that matter the sort of thing you'd give a girlfriend? He'd panicked momentarily, not wanting to freak her out or give her the wrong idea. Or what it the right idea? He had no clue and almost wanted to grab it out of her hands to stop her from opening it. But then he saw that smile, and suddenly he knew everything was alright.

"Teddy..." she said, her mind coming up blank for words. "I don't know what to say."

"If you don't hate it, that would be nice." he joked, his ceased panic sending him into a state of easy calm.

"How could I ever hate it? Teddy, it's beautiful!" She beamed and grabbed his hand squeezing it tight before slipping the locket over her head so it bounced lightly as it landed on her shirtfront just over her heart. "Now my turn." she said, turning round to reach into her bag. She dug around for a bit and finally pulled out a medium-small sized box wrapped in purple and green paper. He reached out for it but she hesitated.

"Now..." she started and he quirked an eyebrow. "...it's not something you probably expect." she said, choosing her words carefully before handing it over. Curiously, he tore the paper open before being faced with a little brown book. The cover was plain except for a small letter L that had been carved into the leather in the corner.

Wondering what could be inside, Teddy opened it to the front page and froze.

He was staring down at a picture of his mother.

He only ever knew her front photographs, but the likeness was as recognizable as looking in the mirror. In the photograph she was standing in the hallway of a dusty house. People milled around her, coming and going and as they did so he started to recognize some of them. There in the corner was Victoire's grandfather, and there was Bill walking purposefully across the shot talking to a grizzled looking man with a madly spinning eye. His mother remained in the midst of it all, trying to hold a straight face for the camera but always breaking into a fit of giggles, her bright pink curls bouncing everywhere as her shoulders shook and she leaned against an ugly umbrella stand.

Teddy tore his eyes away from the photograph and let out a gust of air he never knew he'd been holding. He tried not to think that much about his parents who had died only months after he'd been born, figuring that you couldn't miss what you never felt you had. But this always failed in the end. Living with such a massive family as the Weasleys, you couldn't help but wonder what your own true family would be like. He'd lived with his grandmother for awhile, but she had died shortly before he was to go off to Hogwarts, leaving him as the last of his real family. Now faced with this obvious image from the past, he felt almost as if someone hand reached in side him and wrenched on his heart.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, his voice coming out ragged, making a cloud in the cold air.

"I was in the attic going through some old Order photos. I found heaps of them and decided to sort through. There are more in here, look-" she said, leaning across and gently turning the page to another photo. In this one there were several more people, all in what looked like to be the same house from the first one, all of them crowded around a kitchen table pouring over maps of some sort. He recognized more people here- He saw Mrs. Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Bill, the same gruff man with the funny eye, and even...

There to the far left of the picture crowded in between a sallow faced man with long black hair and Mr. Weasley were his parents. His father was bent low, muttering something to the black haired man while his mum stared intently at a piece of writing on the table all traces of her joking gone, now only seriousness in it's place. Suddenly in the photo she called across the table to the grizzled man who used an old battered cane to walk around and lean over her shoulder, glancing steadily at what she was pointing to while his magical eyes whirled around in it's socket.

"Everyone's in here." Victoire said softly. There are even some of Harry and the others. And towards the back..."

Again she reached forwards and flipped through several pages until she landed on one that made his heart stutter.

His mother and his father, clearly recognizable in his grandmother's home. His mum was seated in a wingback chair by the fireplace, his father kneeling down beside her. Both of them were smiling, and in her arms was a tiny baby boy with a tuft of bright teal hair.

Teddy pushed the book away slightly, leaning his head back to stare up at the ceiling forcing the wetness in his eyes to go back to where they'd come from. Then, very slowly, he turned to a cautious looking Victoire.

"I know it's personal." she said, looking to continue but before she could he put his hand up to stop her.

"Toire." he said, locking eyes with hers. "Thank you."

Something in her face softened and she leaned towards him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as the two of them stared down into the faces that had helped save their world so they might live in it today.

**So right off the bat I want to apologize for two things, reason one being that it has been WAY too long since I last updated because my internet was down for a week, and I'm in school now, and I'm hooked on True Blood when really I should be writing. Reason two is that I said the ball would be in this chapter. I just squeezed to many things into it! But guarantee it's in the next chapter, promise. **

**I want to ask you guys something because I've been a bit torn on the subject. Would you like to have shorter chapters more frequently or longer chapters with lengthier times in between me publishing them. Let me know in the reviews!**

**Speaking of that, I just gotta say thank you! I've been getting amazing amazing comments and I love all of you from the bottom of my fangirling heart 3 So thank you for giving me over 50 reviews! **

**I promise to be better with the rest, and believe me the next chapter (the ball) will be a good one and will open some doors to some romantic feelings!**

**xx**

**Cheers, **

**Cal**

**(Oh and a shout out to Lotta Devon for all her amazing reviews, you're words really supportive and you've been with me for awhile to thank you!)**


	22. The Yule Ball

An hour later Victoire was in her dorm surrounded by what must have been the busiest she'd ever seen it. There were dresses everywhere; the silks and satins lay hanging off curtain racks, spread out on beds or discarded on the floor. The counters were overflowing with hair ties, ribbons, muggle curling irons and straighteners as well as several magical beauty supplies.

Earlier with Teddy they had only been alone for another few minutes when they were interrupted by a large tawny owl, one instantly recognized as Ginger's. Victoire had never in her life seen Teddy so vulnerable as she did when there were together at that moment, even if he did close those feelings the moment she took the letter from the bird's beak. They'd said their goodbyes, promising to meet up at the dance later before she left, not able to shake the feeling that something big had just changed between them.

"If you don't hurry up there's not gonna be any hot water left!" Marcy shouted from beside Toire as she rummaged through the products alined on the dresser.

"Five more minutes!" came Gingers muffled reply from the bathroom. She'd been in the shower for nearly half an hour already and neither of her friends had even washed their faces. "The dance is in five hours! I have to look presentable!"

"So does the rest of the school but they aren't going to like it if there's no heat when they clean themselves!" Marcy called back.

"Show me your dress again." Victoire said from over on her bed where she was lying on her stomach reading the latest copy of Which Witch and examining the silver locket. She must have opened and closed it a hundred times since Teddy had given it to her. It was so thoughtful, and every time she touched it she felt butterflies.

"I'm going with the red one I think." she mused, touching a red floor length gown with straps that tied behind the neck.

"It suits you." Victoire smiled, glancing down at the locket for a hundredth time.

"And what about yours hmm? You picked which dress to swoon the school with?" Marcy joked as a blush coloured Victoire's cheeks.

"Maybe." she beamed, just as there was a crash from behind them. Whirling round the two girls stared at a disgruntled looking Ginger who stood looking defeated in the doorway to the bathroom, steam rolling out around her.

"Bad news." she huffed, tucking a strand of red hair that had escaped her towel turban behind her ear. "I broke the shower."

"Ginger!"

Nearly four hours later in the Gryffindor dorm room, the boys were getting ready.

"You're not really wearing that are you?" Jensen mused, taking in Clyde's brown jacket and bright green tie. "You look like The Doctor."

"Doctor Who?" Clyde asked confused, glancing away from the mirror where he was adjusting his bow tie.

"Exactly."

"What?"

"It's a TV show." Teddy said, turning another page. "Some muggle thing."

He figured there was no way he needed five hours to get ready for the ball and had taken some of the time to go looking through the photo album Victoire had put together for him. He couldn't get over how young everyone looked in the pictures. Even Bill and Fleur who he had always thought looked young enough as parents. He'd come across a photo of Bill before he'd been scarred sitting with what looked like Kingsley Shacklebolt, and one of Ron, Harry and Hermione at one of Harry's birthdays.

"You should probably start getting ready." Sean called from in front of his dresser where he was struggling to tie up his tie. "Ginger'll most likely want you to pick her up early."

"She won't go until Toire's ready, and she's always late." Teddy said casually, trying to force the sudden image of Victoire's surprised expression when she opened his gift out of his head.

"Actually I don't think she'll be going with Toire, mate." Sean said, casting Teddy a glance before turning back to the mirror. "Victoire's going with a champion, remember? She'll come in with the rest of them at the official start of the ball. We probably won't see them 'till afterwards."

Something about this notice suddenly sent a cold chill through Teddy, all happiness from the afternoon put out. He closed the book with a bit of a slam, causing all three of his friends to turn round and stare at him.

"Right, I forgot." he said bluntly, sitting up and climbing off his bed. He just noticed Clyde raise his eyebrows at Jensen and a spike of anger shot through him. "I'm taking a shower." he said curtly, before disappearing into the washroom and slamming the door behind him. For a moment he just stood there leaning against the door, trying to make out the murmuring coming from behind it. He could tell they were talking about him and he had to remind himself that he didn't want to hear it.

Pulling his clothes off and discarding them on the floor he turned on the shower and climbed in, not waiting for the water to heat up. He stood there welcoming the rush of cold that hit him hard and ran down his body, grabbing the soap and lathering his hands before he started washing his torso.

So Victoire was going with Alex. He didn't care. It wasn't as if he didn't have a date or anything. She probably wouldn't even look that good in her dress anyway.

A sudden flash of Victoire from that afternoon shot through his head; her hair damp and piled high in a ponytail, cheeks flushed from the cold, lips red and eyes bright as she'd put her arm around him that afternoon. If she had been beautiful then, she'd probably be so stunning she'd blind him at the ball tonight.

Trying to draw another memory to distract him he thought of his go-to place. Quiddich. Yeah, Quiddich was brilliant. He didn't have to worry about anyone when he was flying, it was just him and the game. But suddenly that image was shattered too, as a memory of Victoire from the previous summer floated into his head. She was wearing her old red tee shirt and her jean cutoffs, and this time her hair was loose and floated around her as she flew higher and higher. She was laughing and all he could see was her smile and those legs that seemed to go on for days.

He let out a frustrated high and closed his eyes, trying to shake the image but it wouldn't leave. Now they were at Shell Cottage by the sea and she was in nothing but her swimsuit. Lime green that showed off all her slight curves and muscles, her eyes sparkling as she taunted him to dive in first. He could feel his breath patterns changing. She was still there on the beach, still barely clad and he could feel his hand inching lower and lower as he took in the freckles on her skin, the sheen of her hair and the swell of her breasts. He let out a shaky breath, a warm coil forming below his abdomen when suddenly there was a sharp knock at the door and his eyes flew open, his hands shooting up into the air.

"You almost done in there? Sean needs his toothbrush." Jensen called from the other side of the door. Teddy looked around hastily trying to ignore what had just happened. "Yeah I'll be out in a sec!" he called, turning the water on hotter.

It took him a second to calm himself down, and when did he couldn't help feeling confused. Sure he'd thought about girls like that before, he was a guy- they all did it. But never had he imaged he'd think of Toire that way. She was always there and he had always loved her but now... It had never occurred to him that he could love her in that way. That he would even consider jerking off to her- he had to stop himself from thinking about it, it was too weird. He cleared his mind and washed his hair hastily, turning off the water and stepping out of the shower. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, opening the door to the dorm.

"About time." Clyde said, running a hand through his hair in front of the mirror. "We thought you'd gotten stuck in there or something."

"Oh my God Clyde, what are you wearing?"

The Gryffindor portrait hole had just opened and Ginger and Marcy had climbed in, Ginger taking special care not to get dirt on her dress, but all effort had been abandoned when she saw Clyde.

"What? It's original!" he exclaimed, glancing down at the jacket and bow tie.

"If McGonagall see's you..." Marcy said, but she was smiling. The common room was filling up quickly with students in an array of colours: silk and satin clad bodies pressed together tighter and tighter as more students tried to reach the portrait hole.

"You look beautiful." Clyde said, taking a step towards Marcy and sliding his arms around her waist before kissing her. Teddy looked away and found himself facing Ginger who incidentally glancing at Sean. Victoire was nowhere in sight.

Feeling very lonely all of a sudden, he swallowed his feelings and took a step towards Ginger. "Hey." he said, watching her attention flit to him momentarily.

"Oh! Hey!" she grinned, taking him in. "You look great!"

"Thanks, so you do." he smiled, glancing about him at the crowd, noticing Clyde and Marcy finishing up their brief make out session. "You about ready to head down?"

"Whenever you are." she said kindly, but when he looked back at her her attention was back on Sean.

Upon entering the Great Hall, Teddy heard Ginger let out a gasp.

"Oh my God, this is amazing." she breathed, and he had to admit that it was. The Great Hall had been turned into a winter wonderland; icicles hanging off every surface, the pillars and floor glazed white with the usual twelve enormous Christmas trees scattered around the room, decorated even more extravagantly then in the previous years. The usual benches had disappeared and now the room was lined with tables draped in white lace cloths. In front of each chair were empty plates and what looked like menus as well as gleaming silver cutlery. Teddy and the rest of his friends walked farther into the hall as the stream of students became thicker. He couldn't help glancing around for Victoire, trying to spot her familiar face among the heads of briefly noticeable people. He heard a chuckled behind him and turned to see Ginger who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Just looking for a table." he said shrugging but he could tell from her face that she didn't believe him. Suddenly there was a loud call from the entrance to the hall and Professor McGonagall's voice echoed throughout the room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, it is my pleasure to introduce you to your champions!"

There was a thunderous amount of applause and the band started playing. The doors opened and the champions entered in a long line. First was Jay Bennet, the Hogwarts champion. He was wearing black and green dress robes that made his long black hair look even oilier, a smug grin plastered on his face. His date was a tall blonde with her hair hanging flat around her shoulders, a light pink dress that oddly resembled a cupcake formed at the skirt. As they approached Ginger made a sound of disgust and Teddy realized with some horror that the girl was Lucinda Bones.

"You think you know someone..." Ginger muttered spitefully, and Teddy couldn't help but agree. It was hard for him to even remember a time he had been attracted to Luce, and he was slightly disgusted to think that he had dated someone who had turned out to be so different. He was able to shake the feeling off just as the Durmstrang champion entered with her date. The girl herself, Rika, was wearing a formfitting dark red dress that hugged her curves and was actually quite flattering, her brown hair spilling down in girls, her usually serious and concentrated face now a mask of pleasure at all the approving stares she was receiving. Her date was a burly Durmstrang boy in black and red robes that matched hers quite well, lined with dark fur that set off their look nicely. Teddy clapped along with the rest of the crowd and felt his heart accelerate slightly. He didn't really know what to expect next. The anticipation didn't last long though, because all of a sudden there they were. There she was.

Everything seemed to slow down. The noise dimmed and amidst all that chaos, it felt to him as if it was just the two of them.

She was smiling, just like she always was. Her hair was piled high on top of her head, silvery-blonde curls cascading down the sides and slipping out in places that just added to the beauty of it. Her dress was floor length, ripples of dark blue fabric formed the skirt below a strapless bodice that matched her lean frame perfectly. Even through the distance between them he could see the freckles on her shoulders scattering down to her arms. He looked down and noticed she had her arm looped through Alex's and suddenly time sped up again.

The noise hit him hard and he started at the shock of it all, taking a step back to steady himself. Once he was able to tear his eyes away, he caught Ginger staring at him again.

"What?" he asked, but could feel his hair changing slightly pink with his embarrassment. "I'm not falling for anyone." he said curtly, looking away and desperately trying to get his hair to return to it's regular teal.

"No, you've already fallen." she laughed as his hair turned an even brighter pink, drawing the attention of several students around them. "Hit the pavement hard by the looks of it too. Guts everywhere." she grinned as he nudged her in an attempt to shut her up.

Victoire had been talking with Alex for nearly an hour when their plates cleared. On entering the great hall she'd immediately been escorted to the champion's table, having no time to find her friends to say hello. She thought she'd caught sight of someone in a ridiculous Doctor Who get up who looked like Clyde, but figured it couldn't be him since he had no way of knowing anything about the show.

Alex had picked her up early from the Ravenclaw common room and taken her down to the Beauxbatons carriage with him where they'd met up with Natalie and Gilles. The couples had hung out for the remaining time until they were summoned back up the castle. The meals had been severed upon arriving and now it looked like the real fun was about to begin.

"Come on, I think the dancing is starting." Victoire said, standing up and grabbing Alex's hand. He let out a laugh and followed. Sure enough it was only a matter of minutes before Professor Flitwick arrived on the stage that had been set up on the west side of the hall and spoke into an ancient looking microphone, announcing a band Victoire had heard of on some of the wizarding radio stations- The Manic Mandrakes.

The crowd went wild and cheered as Victoire dragged Alex onto the dance floor to join the rest of the throng.

The guitars sizzled and the bass pounded through her chest as she jumped up and down through song after song, singing along to the ones she knew and dancing wildly to the ones she didn't. Halfway through the fourth song she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Ginger in her emerald green dress and Marcy in her red one beaming at her.

"Hey!" she said, beaming, but Marcy squinted looking confused.

"WHAT?" Ginger yelled at her and Victoire laughed.

"HEY!" she yelled back.

"Oh. HEY! YOU LOOK GREAT!" Ginger shouted back.

"THANKS! SO DO YOU TWO!"

"HAVE YOU SEEN THE BOYS YET?" Ginger asked as Victoire shook her head no. "EARLIER I THOUGHT I SAW CLYDE, BUT HE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE DOCTOR!" Victoire shouted.

"DOCTOR WHO?" Ginger yelled back.

"EXACTLY!"

Before Ginger could follow up her confused expression Alex grabbed her wrist and pulled her back onto the dance floor, Ginger and Marcy trailing behind.

Three songs and one minor dress tear later, Victoire spotted a turquoise head bobbing towards them. Soon it was followed by a face as Teddy burst through the crowd into their little dance circle along with the rest of the boys.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Victoire smiled as they entered the group. Teddy grinned, his hair brightening a bit and she couldn't help but check him out when he wasn't looking. He wore a white dress shirt with the top button open underneath a black vest. The sleeves were rolled up and he'd matched the simple outfit with black dress pants and a red and gold tie. Attached over his breast pocket was a turquoise rose that she assumed he'd magicked to change colour with his hair, because it seemed to brighten when he did.

"That's clever!" she shouted, grabbing his wrist and pointing to the flower while pulling him closer into the circle.

"Thanks!" she shouted back. "You look amazing!"

"What?"

"I SAID YOU LOOK AMAZING!" he yelled just as the band stopped playing so his voice echoed all around the room. Clapping a hand over her mouth she let out a loud laugh as well as several other people around them. She expected his hair to turn pink but it just glowed brighter as he laughed at the attention while the band started up another round.

She lost track of how many songs they danced to, or for how long. The room could have been a sauna it was so hot, everyone dancing their hardest, laughter merging with the never ending beats that hit the walls and echoed right back towards the crowd. Their circle widened and closed throughout the evening but the whole time her best friends never left her side. Clyde was dancing with Marcy, Natalie was grinding on Gilles and even Sean was dancing close to Ginger, much to her obvious delight. Hours into the evening, the band played their final album song and the crowd cheered louder then ever.

"Thank you! We're going to take it down a notch now and play some songs for the couples in the audience!" the lead singer shouted into the microphone to the returning cheers and whoops of the audience.

"Come on." Alex smiled, taking her hand and guiding her away from the group. She looked back and saw her friends dispersing until they were only in groups of two for the slow dance that the band was starting up from on stage. She caught a glimpse of Teddy and Ginger dancing and had to tear her eyes away back to Alex. She opened her mouth to say something, but to her surprise saw he was looking at someone too. Even though his arms were on her waist, his eyes were searching the crowd for someone. Victoire looked in the same direction trying to seek out who he was looking for, and suddenly her eyes fell on the same petite Beauxbatons girl from the Hall. She was wearing a light violet gown and stretching to reach her date, another Beauxbatons boy with brown hair and wandering eyes that seemed to be magnetized to her chest.

Victoire quirked an eyebrow and decided that it was finally time to get an explanation.

"_Are__you__going__to__tell__me__about__her__or__do__I__have__to__guess?__"_ she said in french lightly, smiling when Alex returned her gaze with a shocked expression. He swallowed awkwardly.

"_What__do__you__mean?_" he asked, now pointedly avoiding looking their way.

"_I__mean__that__girl__over__there_." she said, nodding towards the couple, the boy who was now holding her much closer then she looked comfortable with.

"_I__knew__her__when__we__were__kids.__There__'__s__nothing__to__tell.__"_ he said bluntly looking as though he'd like to change the subject.

"Alex, I can tell when someone's in love._"_ she said softly in english and felt him flinch at the words. He avoided her gaze pointedly but after a minute or two of silence he finally gave in.

"_Fine._" he said, adjusting his hands on her waist as they swayed. _"__What__do__you__want__to__know?__"_

"_What's her name?"_

"_Josephine.__"_ He said it like it was the most beautiful name in the world.

"_When did you fall for her?"_

He laughed humorlessly. _"__I__honestly__don__'__t__know...__we__'__ve__been__each__other__'__s__friends__forever.__We__grew__up__together,__our__families__go__way__back.__I__guess__it__just__kind__of__hit__me__along__the__way.__She__'__s__always__been__there__for__me.__I__can__trust__her__with__anything.__"_

"_Then__why__haven__'__t__I__seen__you__two__together__more__often?__"_ Victoire asked curiously.

"_Same reason I'm not over there dancing with her right now." he said simply. "Her boyfriend."_

"_That__guy?_" Toire asked, a look of mock horror crossing her face. _"__He__'__s__got__nothing__on__you.__"_

"_Try__telling__her__that._" he said, casting a glance in their direction. _"__Even__if__she__wants__out,__he__loves__her__too__much.__He__'__s__not__letting__her__go__unless__she__cuts__all__ties.__"_

Victoire nodded knowingly as the song came to a close and a new one started up again. _"__But__why__aren__'__t__you__making__a__move?__"_ she asked.

"_I already told you, she has a boyfriend. I'm not that kind of guy. Besides, we haven't hung out that much ever since they started dating. He doesn't like me around."_

"_Obviously._" Toire said, waving her hand as if to brush off the subject. _"__Who__could__hold__a__candle__to__the__school__champion.__"_

Despite her joke, he merely smiled slightly. That was when it hit her how much this was killing him.

"_Alex,__if__you__really__love__her__you__need__to__let__her__know.__You__don__'__t__want__to__spend__the__rest__of__your__life__mourning__over__someone__who__could__have__been__yours__if__you__just__gathered__the__courage__to__express__yourself.__"_ She cast a glance in their direction and saw Josephine's boyfriend practically crushing her head to his chest as she looked around awkwardly.

"_Besides_," she said, smiling slightly. _"__I__think__she__could__do__with__some__saving__right__about__now.__"_

He glanced over at her and then back to Toire.

"_But what would I say?"_

"_Just step in. Ask for a dance. It's not like he can say no for her, and honestly I think she'd be relieved."_

He cast her a second glance, hope brewing behind his eyes.

"_You're sure you don't mind?" he said, not taking his eyes off Josephine."_

"_I__insist.__"_ she said, sliding her hands from around his neck and giving him a small push.

"_Now go."_

Teddy had been watching them the whole time, trying to make out what they were saying but to no luck. Victoire had that soft look in her eyes she got when talking about something serious but trying to be gentle about it. They had kept looking at someone through the crowd and when she pushed at his chest he gave her one last glance before turning to go.

He didn't know that this was what he had been waiting for, but when it came along the moment felt sort of perfect.

She watched him disappear through the crowd towards Josephine. There were couples dancing all around her, swaying to the soft music and leaning on each other out of support and the love that they shared. She cast him one last glance and turned round to go find Ginger but as she did she came face to face with a bright turquoise rose, nearly bumping into the person it was attached to.

"Whoa there." Teddy said, reaching out to steady her as she took a step back and tilted her head up to look at him.

"Hi." she said, smiling up at him.

"Hey." Something in his eyes was different. Warmer maybe, she couldn't quite put her finger on it and didn't have the time to think it over because it was that moment he decided to speak up.

"May I have this dance?"

She didn't mean for her eyebrows to shoot up in surprise, nor did she mean for her stomach to leap in excitement. She had no clue where that one had come from. But the smile that spread wider over her face was natural.

"Of course." she said and her heart gave a little twist at the smile he gave her in return followed by an even bigger one as he tried to hide it by biting his lip and dropping his gaze.

Almost tentatively he dropped his hands to her waist resting them there gently. With the same amount of hesitation she reached up and slid her arms behind his neck, one hand absently brushing a strand of turquoise hair off his face just as a new song started up. Together they swayed, neither of them speaking. Something about the moment was so incredibly fragile it was almost as if if one of them were to make the wrong move it would snap and disintegrate like the strand of a spider's web.

"You really do look amazing." Teddy said softly after a moment, briefly noticing her blush.

"Thank you." she said, not breaking their gaze. "It took a lot of work, I can tell you."

"Yeah right." he said sarcastically.

"It did!" she smiled, her tone of voice trying to be convincing. "You'd be surprised at the amount of time it takes for me to actually look nice."

"I still don't believe you." he said, shaking his head.

"And why is that?"

"Because you always look beautiful."

It took her off guard when he said it and she hoped he couldn't hear her heartbeat because to her it was louder the all the applause put together from that night. From the look on his face she determined he hadn't intended to say it so bluntly, but that now that it was out in the open it was her turn to recover first.

"Well you're not too bad yourself." she said softly, tightening her arms around his neck and pulling herself slightly closer so their chests touched. She felt his arms readjust themselves on her hips and felt a knot of heat suddenly stir beneath her abdomen.

"So you finally admit it." he grinned and she couldn't help but return the smile.

"Don't let it go to your head." she warned and this time it was him who pulled her closer. They were nearly touching everywhere now; legs, stomach, chest... and amidst all the people in the room she was feeling something she hadn't felt around Teddy for years. In this moment, something inside her was giving in. Something crucial had changed.

"Hey, are you..."

She looked up. Teddy was looking downwards and for a moment her eyebrows shot up in disapproval thinking he was staring at her chest, but she soon realized he was staring at the chain of the locket he'd given her.

"Oh." she said, reaching for it and pulling it out of he front of her dress where it had fallen some time during the night. She held it in the palm of her hand and they both stared at it for a moment. His eyes flicked up towards hers and he raised an eyebrow.

"It went with the dress." she said unconvincingly.

"Right." he whispered, their faces inches apart and in that moment Victoire was hit with a feeling stronger then she'd ever had in her entire life.

She had never wanted to kiss anyone so badly as she did Teddy Lupin in that entire moment.

Almost on impulse, she found herself starting to stretch up onto her toes, reaching forwards. He was looking at her like he never had before and he was close, so close- just inches away...

Suddenly there was a loud screech from the front of the room. The invisible web between them snapped and they stepped away from each other faster then if they were made of hot coals. Victoire suddenly felt a surge of heat flow to her face and a panic of guilt in her gut, but then had to remind herself she had nothing to feel guilty for. Casting a glance up at Teddy she saw that his hair was just returning from pink to green and it send a silent thrill through her knowing that he had felt it too.

"Sorry about that folks." the _Manic__Mandrakes_singer called out from on stage. "Just some technical difficulties. We're coming to the end of our show tonight, but to send you all off he's one song to finish it all."

The band started playing a semi-fast paced song, no suitable for slow dancing and Victoire turned back towards Teddy who was watching her.

"Um..." she said, struggling for words that she needed to come, yet nothing found her.

"I should find Jensen." Teddy blurted out. "Probably let him know when we should head back up to the dorm."

"Yeah..." Toire said, a shock of disappointment surging through her at his words. "I should do the same with Ginger."

They stood there for a beat, neither knowing what to say. There was no saving the night for them, the web was broken and the moment had passed.

"Guess I'll see you tomorrow." Teddy said awkwardly.

"Yeah." she replied. "Happy Christmas."

"You too."

And at the same time the couple turned away and hurried off into the crowd, desperate to find their friends and sort out the ordeal they were already replaying inside their heads.

**HOLY SHIT THAT TOOK ME A LONG TIME TO WRITE.**

**Seriously guys, I am so so sorry. It has been FOREVER since I last updated, and I assure you I will try to get on it sooner then later. **

**So there was one part in particular in this chapter that was -ahem- interesting to write and that was the Teddy shower scene. I figured it was time to step it up a notch and show you all that Teddy really is a boy, and lets face it, boys do those things. Plus I wanted to give an example of his attraction to Victoire. So you can all look forward to things heating up from here on out, especially with a bit of a SCANDAL in the next chapter.**

**Some things that happened was that I don't know if I've mentioned this but I'm on the Beta version of Pottermore and I've beens sorted and all that. It was really cool, my wand is dragon heartstring, 13 inches, yew and surprisingly swishy :)**

**I think you should all guess which house I'm in, I love hearing peoples thoughts. And if you're already on Pottermore tell me what house you're in, I'd love to know! I'll release my house and username next chapter.**

**Also the other day I was literally in the process of writing this and my cat was on the desk in front of my and during the process of writing this chapter he had a mild stroke. And it honestly scared the shit out of me, I completely abandoned my writing and had to figure out what was wrong with him. So theres a lot of love in this chapter 'cause, you know, he didn't die while I was writing it so that's good. (He's fine now, thank god.)**

**Another HUGE HUG LOVE FOR ALL OF YOU because you're awesome, amazing blah blah blah you already know this I don't need to tell you how awesome you are. Thanks for sticking with this story. I know it's super long, but it means a lot to me. You guys are great. And don't forget to tell me what you think about this chapter! And predictions for what you think is going to happen next with the scandal! Seriously I love your predictions. Ok enough authors notes now. **

**xx**

**-Cal**


	23. Blame It On the Booze

The dance was starting to break up, every student still mingling and making their way towards the door of the great hall causing a huge crowd to form as everyone pushed their way to the front of the room. Victoire was caught in the middle of it, her heart racing loudly, her head caught up in a million thoughts with one word echoing throughout it; _Teddy__Teddy__Teddy_.

She had to find Ginger, had to tell someone about all these feelings or else she feared she might burst. She glanced around the crowd quickly for Alex but he was no where to be scene and neither was Josephine. Silently she hoped that they'd hit it off but her thoughts were abandoned when she ran straight into a tall dark haired boy she was more then familiar with.

"Woah, what's the rush Toire?"

Looking up she found that the boy she had collided with was Jensen, his dark robes matching his pallor nicely as he stared down at her with a slightly amused expression.

"Thank Merlin." she said, grabbing onto his shoulder to steady herself. A look of worry suddenly crossed his face.

"Are you alright? You look a bit pale. Maybe you should sit down."

He led her out of the crowd gently and found a chair for her. All the while she had to admit she was feeling awfully light headed from the recent excitement. That and she hadn't had anything to drink for the past couple of hours and was feeling painfully dehydrated.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, crouching down so he was at eye level. He looked genuinely concerned and she couldn't help but feel a wave of gratitude for one of her oldest friends. "Do you need anything?"

"Could I have some water?" she asked faintly and he smiled.

"I'll be right back."

She watched him disappear into the throng, breathing deeply and trying to focus on the sound of the crowd as she let her eyes close. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in-

"Victoire!" someone called from ahead of her. Her eyes fluttered open just in time to see a concerned looking Ginger approached followed by Marcy.

"We just saw Jensen, he told us you were ill." she said, crouching down beside her friend. "What happened?"

"Ginger..." Victoire breathed, glancing up at her friend who was looking more and more concerned by the second.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Marcy asked, taking Victoire's hand in her own.

"Something... something just happened."

She was frowning now. Was she making a big deal out of nothing? So what if she'd danced with Teddy? So what if she'd felt a sudden spark of attraction to him, and so what if she had wanted nothing more then to kiss him more then she had any boy in her entire life?

Oh God.

"It's Teddy." Victoire said softly, not even aware the words had come out of her mouth.

"What?" Marcy repeated, looking confused. Ginger on the other hand had quickly developed a slowly spreading grin that lit up her face and put a knowing spark in her eye.

"Come on." she said suddenly, grabbing Victoire's arm and pulling her out of the chair into standing position where she swayed dangerously. "I've got the perfect thing for you."

"But what about Jensen..." she said trailing off and glancing in the direction he had disappeared.

"Forget Jensen, he'll catch on." Ginger said, waving her hand in the air, a devious grin still etched on her face. "We're going to Marcy's room."

"Why are we going to my room?" Marcy asked, still looking confused as she followed the girls back towards the door.

"I'll explain on the way." Ginger smiled as they entered the crowd once more.

"Tell us exactly what happened."

It was fifteen minutes later and the girls had finally managed to escape the hoard of people trying to make their way back to their beds. Marcy and Ginger had led Victoire up several staircases and lifted her over three trick steps before they'd made it back to the Gryffindor common room. Marcy had given the password and the girls had climbed in, surprised to see that not a lot of students had made it back yet. Taking advantage, they finally grabbed Victoire a glass of water and headed up to Marcy's dorm.

That was where they sat as Victoire drank her water gratefully and Marcy took her hair down one pin at a time, prodding the night's details out of her.

"Why were you so pale back there?" Marcy asked, dropping yet another pin onto the bed beside them. They had all changed into sweats and tank tops before starting, as Ginger bluntly put it, "The Interrogation", and were finally comfortable for once that night.

"I was dehydrated." Victoire said shyly, taking another drink of her water, her mind flicking back to the teal haired boy.

"Bull to the shit, you said something about Teddy back there." Ginger prodded, preoccupied with something on Marcy's counter that Victoire couldn't see. "Spill."

"I don't know..." Victoire started but shut her mouth promptly when she saw the looks her friends were giving her. "I danced with Teddy." she blurted.

Realization finally dawned on Marcy's face and she sat down beside her friend.

"Tell us all about it." she crooned, taking a brush and running it through Victoire's silvery blonde hair, attempting to get out all the knots and creases.

"Yes." Ginger said turning around and revealing what she had been working on on Marcy's dresser. She was holding a small tray accompanied with several shot glasses all full to the brim with Fire Whisky. "Let it all out."

Victoire eyed the tray uneasily but took a glass all the same as Ginger set it down by their feet.

"Well... I've known Teddy my whole life." Victoire started, taking a sip from the glass and feeling the burning liquid shoot down her throat stirring something inside her. "He's my best friend. Of course when I was younger I was practically in love with him but everyone knows that's just puppy love..." She took a bigger drink cherishing the feeling of the whisky as it motivated her to keep talking. "He was always popular and brave and funny and... and handsome. And everyone knew it, especially me. But after our first year together my feelings for him like that sort of faded and I was perfectly happy with being his friend."

"But what about Luce?" Ginger prompted as Marcy made a gagging sound at the name before taking another shot. "You must have had some form of dislike towards her while she was dating Teddy."

"Well... yeah, I guess. I mean, she was my friend back then and I tried telling myself I was happy for them but I never really _was_you know? I never said anything but seeing them together... something just didn't seem right." Frowning, Victoire picked up a full glass, looked at it half heartedly and downed it all in one. Ginger clapped her hands, laughing before pouring another one.

"At least you don't have to room with her." Marcy said taking another drink. "That's real hell."

"I'll believe it." Ginger agreed. "But what about tonight." she said again to Victoire. "You danced with him. Was that all?"

"Well... no." she said hesitantly and her friends leaned in. "I had just let Alex go see a friend and I was standing around waiting. So I turned around, and there he was." she said, biting her lip. "Like he had been waiting for me." she added. Her friends nodded eagerly and she went on.

"He asked me if I wanted to dance, and of course I said yes why wouldn't I? He was there and he's my best friend, right? And, okay so he looked great. I'm not going to lie about that. He looked fantastic." She took another drink, the whisky burning all the way down. "And then, get this... he told me I looked beautiful! I couldn't believe it. I didn't even think Teddy would ever notice my appearance, let alone compliment me on it, and there he was, saying I was beautiful. And he was looking at me in this way..." she trailed off, glancing down at her friends both of whom where waiting in anticipation.

"In what way?" Marcy whispered, mesmerized. Victoire swallowed nervously. "He was looking at me as if... as if he was seeing me in a whole new light. He's been looking at me like that a lot lately I noticed." she added, remembering back to that afternoon when she'd given him his gift. Both her friends were smiling and she decided that now was as good a time as ever to tell them what she had thought while they were dancing.

"I wanted to kiss him." she said softly. "I think I almost did too. And I think he would have kissed me back."

There was a moment of silence- one of those silences when words sink into you and you can finally appreciate their true meaning and what they mean to you in particular. The girls didn't speak up because the words were already there, hanging strung up by invisible threads, glistening in the air.

"I think I like him again." Victoire swallowed, her mouth dry and reached for another fire whisky to quench her thirst. By the time she had downed it, she was feeling quite light headed but this time if she had to guess, she would say it was from the alcohol. When her vision refocused on her friends, Ginger looked like she was about to burst.

"Something you'd like to say there Ginge?" Victoire said, stifling a laugh at her friends expression. There was a moment where Ginger looked like she was having some trouble gathering her thoughts before she burst.

"FUCKING FINALLY!" she screamed, causing both her friends to jump in shock, spilling the remainder of their drinks all over the bed sheets.

"What!" Victoire yelled, startled as Ginger rolled on the ground in laughter.

"You two..." She could barely talk she was laughing so hard, "...you and Teddy... are MADE for each other!"

Victoire could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks as she was enveloped in the famous Weasley blush. "We are not!" she whisper shrieked, but even she couldn't stop the giggles that were forming in her chest.

"I've been saying it for YEARS!" Ginger shouted as Marcy rolled around hysterically, shushing her. "And now you like him and I can FINALLY voice my opinions!" she sighed, falling down onto Marcy's bed. "Finally..." she sighed. Marcy, who was spread-eagled on the floor looked up at Victoire with an expression that showed she was clearly half way to becoming very drunk. Something in the back of Toire's mind reminded her that fire whisky made you drunker much faster then any other alcohol known to wizard or muggle, but she brushed it away and fell back on the bed beside Ginger.

"You really liiiiike him." Marcy sang, rocking back and forth on the floor as Victoire's blush spread to her ears.

"I don't. I don't really like him. Not that much." she said sternly.

"Oh don't _lie_to yourself Toire." Ginger giggled rolling over and nearly falling off the bed. "You're crazy for Lupin. Loopy loopy Lupin." she giggled, this time rolling to far and slipping onto the floor sending all three girls into wild hysterics.

Just over an hour later, Victoire was stirred suddenly from a dreamless sleep she had been having. Opening her eyes she grabbed her head and moaned at the sharp pang that shot through it. She could hear Marcy and Ginger snoring from somewhere in the room and see the spilt shot glasses, but somehow she couldn't put two and two together to explain where she was. Outside it was dark and the moon hung between clouds in the sky. Something about the situation gave her the chills and she suddenly got the immediate feeling that she had to go back to her common room.

"It's late." The small, rational side of her brain told her as she staggered upwards in the dark, narrowly dodging a broken glass. "Stay here and go back to sleep."

"No, we need to go back to our room!" The other part of her said, much louder at that. "Let's go for a walk."

So Victoire took a final stumble across the Gryffindor dorm room and let herself out, padding her way silently down the stairs until she had reached the portrait hole.

The common room was deserted and a part of her noticed that it must have been later in the evening then she'd though. Shrugging it off she climbed clumsily through the portrait hole and nearly fell out the other side, waking a quite disgruntled Fat Lady.

"Ms. Weasley where do you think you're going at such an hour!" she called after her, but Victoire pretended not to hear and continued her silent walk back to her dormitory.

She didn't know how long she had been wandering when she realized she was lost. Maybe an hour, maybe a few minutes but what she did know for sure was that the castle was not a welcoming place when wandering it's halls, drunk in the middle of the night. She could hear the snores of the painting and the creaking of something far off in the distance that made her walk faster. She could have sworn she'd seen a light once or twice but it soon faded and she continued her blind adventure.

Halfway down a deserted corridor she heard a loud snap behind her and froze. Her heart started hammering twice it's speed and she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound of her breathing. The snap rang out again and she closed her eyes in fear, suddenly feeling quite nauseous and wanting no more then to be back home at Shell Cottage surrounded by her family or taking care of Louis-

"Victoire?"

Something grabbed her shoulder and she let out a shattering, uncontrollable shriek that echoed all along the corridor. A hand whipped around and covered her mouth stifling her cry and she closed her eyes tight waiting for whatever creature that had come for her to do it's bidding and be done.

"Victoire, it's me! It's me!"

Except the voice was familiar, not a voice of a monster at all. Opening her eyes slowly she saw the light once again and turned in it's direction. Looking up she saw dark hair, green eyes and a worried expression all worn by Jensen Spinnet.

She let out a noise that was half a sob and half relief, collapsing towards him as he rushed forward to make sure she didn't fall.

"Jesus, where have you been? We've been looking everywhere. Teddy wouldn't let us sleep until we found you." he said softly as she buried her face into his chest and cried silently. Everything was frightening, confusing and much too loud.

"Victoire, look at me." he said softly, reaching down to tilt her chin up. She opened her eyes to see his and was struck with a pang of how attractive he was. Something about the light maybe, or just the alcohol in her system made her reach down to take his hand.

"Take me home." she whispered, as he stood there hesitantly. "I just want to sleep."

"Okay." he said after a moment, running a hand over her hair and tucking it behind her ear. "Okay. Come on, let's go."

He squeezed her hand and guided her along the corridor, making lefts and rights that she hadn't even known were there. She sighed and leaned into his arm, feeling the hard muscles he'd developed from Quiddich while he led the way. Finally he stopped and she bumped into his shoulder gently. She briefly recognized a cool voice reading out a riddle and Jensen's lower one trying to answer it.

"Wrong answer." spoke the cool voice and Jensen swore under his breath.

"An apple." Victoire mumbled sleepily.

"Well done." replied the voice and she heard the door swing open followed by Jensen's laugh.

Stepping over the threshold she felt the cool hair that circled in the Ravenclaw common room hit her and she leaned closer towards Jensen for warmth but he pulled away, holding out his arms to steady her.

"We're here." he said softly and she opened her eyes to see him looking at her kindly. "Do you think you can get up to your room? I can't get past the sliding spell on the staircase."

He looked at her, expecting an answer but all she could concentrate on was his face. Angular cheekbones, olive-toned skin and green eyes the same colour as the Forbidden Forest. Lips like crescents.

"Victoire?"

She swayed for a moment and he leant down to catch her. He wasn't exspecting it when she kissed him, one hand cupping the side of his face, the other one resting on his chest. He made a sound of surprise and she stretched to her toes trying to deepen it. For the first moment he could feel his eyes drifting shut, his lips giving into hers as one of his arms wrapped around her waist drawing her closer as he kissed her back, her lips really as soft as they looked. She ran her tongue over his bottom lip and bit down softly, driving him wild and wanting nothing more then to keep kissing her. But then in the dark, she let out a small sigh of a word, one he knew he had probably imagined but all the same made him grab her shoulders and push her away.

The passion broke in an instant, and Victoire felt that familiar rush of cold again. Both of them stood apart breathing heavily, Victoire with her hand over her mouth, Jensen running his thumb over the lip that she'd bitten, still able to taste her. He caught her confused gaze. She was drunk, that much had been obvious from the corridor. She was probably arguing with herself about what had happened, making him all the more aware that it hadn't been _her_kissing him but the alcohol. And it sickened him that he had gone along with it.

"I can't Toire." he said softly, wanting to reach out and brush the hair from her eyes but knowing it would go against what he believed in. "You're amazing, and you're beautiful..." he said, truly accepting how beautiful she was, Veela or no Veela. "...but you're drunk. And I can't take advantage of you like that."

"I'm sorry." she whispered through the dark and a part of him believed that it was her talking, truly her. He had always had slight feelings for her, but she'd never looked at him that way. He knew there were other girls. He knew he'd be alright, and he was happy with just being her friend. She was a great girl, and he even laughed to himself thinking that _she_had just kissed _him._

"I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow." he said, smiling at her doe eyed expression. "You'll be alright, yeah?"

"Yeah." she said. "I'll be fine."

He nodded and made his way through the door out into the corridor. He took one last glance back before closing the door behind him. The click of the lock startled her out of her confusion just for a moment. Turning towards the door she spoke to Jensen even though he was too far to hear her.

"Don't tell Teddy." she said, before heading to the stairs and making her way slowly up to her room.

The three boys had been waiting in their room for nearly half an hour while Jensen went out to do a final corridor check for Victoire.

"I'm sure she's fine mate, she's probably in her dorm." Clyde said from his sprawled position on his bed to a pacing Teddy Lupin. Jensen had found them earlier that evening asking if they'd seen Victoire. Apparently she'd been looking sick and had asked for him to get her some water, but when he returned she was gone.

"She might even be in the same tower as us crashing with Marcy." he added, shrugging at the thought.

"I should never have left her alone." Teddy said finally, taking a seat on his bed and running a hand through his hair which had chosen to turn a dark mustard yellow- a colour it developed whenever he became stressed. "I was just with her, she must have gone off ten minutes after we'd said goodbye." he added, and then with a groan of aggravation, flung himself back onto his bed.

"Don't beat yourself up about it. I'm sure she'll be fine." Sean said, coming out of the bathroom in his pajamas.

Suddenly there was a click and the door to their room swung open revealing an exhausted but mildly amused looking Jensen. All boys turned in his direction, Teddy and Clyde sitting up straight from their spots on the bed.

"Did you find her?" Teddy asked, his hair back to it's bright teal, suddenly alert. Jensen cast him a look, closing the door behind him and chucked to himself.

"I found her alright."

"Thank Merlin." Clyde smiled, easing himself back into sleeping position. "Night chaps."

"Wait, what was that supposed to mean?" Teddy asked, a frown creasing his brow as Jensen removed his shirt and fished through his trunk for his sweats.

"It means I found her." Jensen said, this time in a more relaxed tone.

"Well..." Teddy couldn't help but feel he was hiding something from him. Usually he didn't have a problem if his friends kept to themselves but tonight, when it concerned Victoire? There wasn't a chance he wasn't going to find out about it.

"How did you find her? Where was she?" he asked.

"Stumbling around in front of the DA classroom. She didn't really know where she was, I scared her half to death." Jensen smiled and the uneasy feeling in Teddy's gut simply increased.

"Why was she _stumbling_?" he asked, and Jensen glanced over his shoulder.

"What is this, twenty questions?"

"I want to know."

The brunette turned around completely to face his friend and hoisted himself up to sit on Sean's dresser. He gave his friends a steady look and then blurted.

"She was stone drunk."

"_What?_" Teddy exclaimed, while Clyde let out a loud laugh of "Seriously?" and then fell into hysterics while Teddy remained open mouthed in shock.

"Seriously." Jensen grinned, scratching the back of his neck bashfully.

"I can't believe it." Sean laughed, while Clyde's sniggering increased.

"I can!" he said between giggles. "I bet she was with Marcy, she's got a stash of Fire Whisky in her underwear drawer."

"When have _you_been in her underwear drawer?"

"Wouldn't you like to know!"

But Teddy still couldn't wrap his head around Victoire being drunk. She was always so... so... civilized? Was that the word he was looking for? He had no idea, but soon Clyde asked a question he knew he wanted to hear the answer to but wouldn't have voiced if it hadn't been brought up.

"Well what did she do when you took her back?" he said, finally regaining himself enough to sit in an upright position.

"What do you mean?" Jensen said, and Teddy noticed he wouldn't meet their eyes.

"I mean people always do dumb shit when they're wasted, what was Toire's prize?"

"Careful panty sniffer." Jensen retorted, giving him a look.

"Hey we all wanna know!" Clyde exclaimed, waving his hands in the air. "And by the look on your face you want to tell us. So spill."

Jensen took a long look at his friends, trying to stifle the smile on his face. He didn't notice that Teddy's expression was one different from his other two friends.

"Victoire was perfectly fine." Jensen said simply. "But let's just say..." He ran his tongue over his lower lip. "...she's a hell of a good kisser."

There was a beat of silence.

"No _way.__" _Clyde whispered, and then banged his fists on the mattress. "No fucking way! Holy shit, I can't believe it! She didn't!"

"She did. I had nothing to do with it." Jensen smiled, turning back to his trunk smugly to return his shirt.

"That's a stupid joke."

The jab was meant to be cruel, and it worked. The whole room seemed to tense up as Teddy said it, he could even see the muscles in Jensen's back tense up.

"I'm not joking." he said, turning his head towards Teddy who was wearing a smirk, even though he didn't find anything in the current situation the least bit funny.

"You expect me to believe that, intoxicated or not, Victoire would try to make a move on _you_?"

He didn't know why he was being so mean, just that a feeling of rage shot through him, a thousand times stronger then fire whisky and he was doing everything in his control not to lash out. Jensen it seemed was experiencing a similar feeling.

"Well maybe you don't know as much about her as you thought you did." he said firmly.

"I know EVERYTHING ABOUT HER." Teddy yelled, standing up, fists curled. "I've always been there for her! Whenever she needs me I'll be the one who's there!"

"Then where were you tonight?" Jensen yelled back. "She was fucking _terrified_out there, scared out of her mind! And I was the one who had to help her back! I was the one who made sure she was alright!"

"YOU'RE NOT HER BEST FRIEND!" Teddy retorted while Clyde made a move to separate the two but Sean held him back. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE TO WATCH HER OUT THERE! SHE'S SO GODDAMN INNOCENT SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT SHE'S DOING! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO WATCH HER FALL FOR OTHER GUYS AND KNOW THAT IN THE END THEY'RE GOING TO BREAK HER, AND THAT THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!"

He was breathing heavily, and suddenly the mood shifted. Jensen looked exhausted. So did Teddy as he dropped his fist letting it bang against the headboard.

"Do you like her?" Jensen asked after a silence. Teddy closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and didn't respond.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he continued.

"I'm honestly just figuring it out for myself, mate." he sighed, glancing up at his friend. The two of them stared at each other a moment.

"I'm sorry." Teddy said finally.

"I am too. I didn't know you felt that way about her."

"Yeah, well..." he drifted off, not wanting to continue on the subject.

"If it makes you feel any better..." Jensen said, not breaking the gaze. "...I could have sworn she'd said your name while we were kissing."

Teddy rose and eyebrow and glanced at his friend.

"Seriously?"

"It sounded like it, yeah."

They looked at each other, each one trying not to laugh.

"Hot." Clyde said finally, breaking the silence.

"Shut up panty sniffer."

**WHOO guess who's been updating like mad! MEEE!**

**Aaha so I told you there was gonna be a scandal ;) Tell me what you think! Did you expect it? Like the drama?**

**I loved how all of you guessed that my Pottermore house was Ravenclaw, when in reality I'm actually a... SLYTHERIN! I know, I was shocked! It's weird being in this house, but I'm glad I am in the long run. Lots of cool people ;)**

**My username is NoxNight160, so if you've got PM add me if you want!**

**I'll try to update again soon, and I'm pleased to say we are actually coming close to the end of me writing about Victoire's 5th year, which means we're even closer to the end of this story :( Noo but no worries, lots of steamy stuff to come! (Literally in some cases.)**

**Reviews make me write faster!**

**Cheers!**

**xx**

**-Cal**

**(P.S: sorry about the italics thing last chapter theres a glitch in my computer or something :P)**


	24. A Champion's Tale

**A.N.: Because of the weird glitch that comes with it, I will no longer be writing the french dialogue in italics. You can just assume that whenever Toire and Alex are alone together and talking that it's in french :P**

"Hey punch drunk. Wake up."

Victoire felt something nudge her head and let out a groan, rolling over and burrowing her face under the duvet. "Go 'way..." she mumbled into the pillow, shifting slightly to avoid a drool patch.

"Come on sleeping beauty, we've got news." came another voice. She ignored them, shifting deeper under the covers.

"Don't make us attack you." the first voice came again, warningly.

"I think we're going to have to." said the second voice. Someone sighed.

"Okay Toire, I'm going to count to three. If you don't show any signs of life by then we're gonna have to take evasive maneuvers. One."

She shoved her head under the pillow, trying to block out the voices and the sharp pain slamming into her head.

"Two... you ready?"

"Ready."

"THREE!" shouted a voice.

"SONORUS!"

Suddenly she heard Marcy's voice, booming through the room, start to sing.

"WAKE UP WAKE UP YOU GOT TOO DRUNK, YOU DRANK THE NIGHT AWAY! YOU'RE HAMMERED YOU'RE BUZZED, YOUR MEMORIES ARE FUZZED, YOUR HANGOVER'S HERE TO STAY!"

Ginger's voice chimed in, equally as loud.

"YOU'RE BLADDERED, YOU'RE LASHED, YOU LOST ALL YOUR CASH AND YOU'RE PICKLED THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND! YOU'RE SMASHED AND YOU'RE SLOSHED, YOUR BODY'S BEEN MOSHED AND YOU KNOW THAT IT WASN'T NO GIN'D!"

"ARRRGGG!" Victoire yelled, sitting up suddenly to the two beaming faces of her best friends, her head shooting with pain. "'Gin'd' isn't a word!" she moaned, falling back on the pillows.

"Our queen arises!" Ginger called, flopping onto the bed beside her friend.

"Alert the Prophet!" Marcy shouted, doing the same.

"I hate you both." Victoire grumbled. "And my head hurts..." she mumbled.

"Ahh if only someone had invented a sobering spell." Ginger mused, leaning up on one elbow to catch a good look at Victoire. "Merlin, you look like shit."

"Sod off..." she grumbled, attempting to roll over but Marcy grabbed her shoulder.

"Whoa there pisser." she smiled. "We think you're gonna want to hear what we've got to say."

"I doubt it." she growled.

From the corner of her eye she caught her friends exchange a glance. It wasn't a good one either and she felt a tweak of worry. "What is it?"

Ginger glanced down at her. "You really don't remember anything about last night?"

"Urmm..." Victoire racked her brains, trying to find the last thing she could recall. She had been at the dance... she'd felt sick... she'd gone to Marcy's room and then Ginger had turned around with some fire whisky...

Suddenly she saw a flash of a face, but it was so quick she didn't recognize it. Something that startled her though was the feeling that came with it. She felt lips on her own and hands in her hair... and a deep feeling of regret.

"Oh God..." she muttered, clutching her head. "What did I do?"

Her friends cast a glance at each other, before they turned back to her.

"Jensen." they said in unison.

"_WHAT!__"_

"Not like that!" Marcy said hastily as Ginger let out a laugh. "But from what we heard... well..." She took a deep breath and spat the rest out hastily. "You were walking around the castle drunk and Jensen found you and took you back to your room but then you snogged him and apparently Teddy was really mad because Jensen said it was great and they got into this huge fight and looked like they were going to murder each other but everything worked out in the end because apparently you... um... moaned Teddy's name or something while the two of you were...doing it."

"Nice." Ginger muttered from beside her.

"Wait..." Victoire's head was whirling and suddenly it all came back to her. The heat of the moment, how she had stumbled into Jensen, how he had kissed her back but then pushed her away...

"Oh Merlin..." she said, louder this time. "Oh... fuck!"

"There's the reaction I was looking for." Ginger smirked.

"Oh my GOD!" she yelled. "Oh my God, Jensen must hate me... _Teddy_must hate me! Oh Merlin, what have I done..."

"Relax, we think it all got sorted out."

"How could this get sorted out!" she yelled, sitting up straighter and pushing herself out of bed, her feet hitting the ground hard and making her sway before Marcy put a hand out to steady her. "This is awful, I've ruined everything! I've ruined our friendship, I've ruined all my chances with Teddy, oh Merlin... and Jensen must hate me, must think I'm a mad whore or something..."

"Jensen still has a perfectly good idea of you Toire." Marcy comforted. "I think they were all a bit pleased actually. To see you let loose."

"How do you know that?" she moaned, whacking her head against the bed frame in frustration.

"Where do you think _we_found out about this?" Ginger asked, pulling Toire away from her head whacking. "Clyde told us this morning. He was there for the whole thing. Said he'd never seen Teddy so livid but afterwards they were both fine, just a bit riled up."

"I can't believe I kissed him..." she murmured.

"Well apparently you were excellent." Ginger smirked. "Jensen was quite taken."

"Summer experience..." she blushed, remembering a boy from the past summer who she had had a fleeting romance with down in Ottery St. Catchpole. As for kissing went, she'd gotten quite a lot of practice before he left at the end of the summer.

She faced her friends, both of whom had raised eyebrows. "It's not important..." she added hastily and Ginger rolled her eyes.

"Well either way, it's nearing lunch and you need to leave this room and face the magic." she smiled. "Come down to the Great Hall with us."

Victoire moaned.

"You're going to have to talk to them eventually." Marcy smiled. "Better do it now then later."

Victoire frowned and blew a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes. "Shit..." she whispered. "I guess you're right... but it's not like I'll be able to eat anything, I'm still hungover." Suddenly a thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute, you two drank just and much as me last night, why aren't you ill?"

A sly smile slowly appeared on both girls faces as they cast a devilish glance at each other. Ginger cleared her throat.

"Ahem, well... I might have been lying about there not being a sobering charm."

Newly sobered and dressed, Victoire left the Ravencalw common room with her friends and started their way down to the Great Hall for lunch. She could tell Ginger and Marcy were trying their best to make her feel good about the current situation but she couldn't keep out the worrying. She was tired and nervous, not to mention feeling a tremendous amount of guilt which her friends kept telling her she shouldn't be. Either way, she didn't want to face her friends. Finally they arrived at the giant oak doors and the trio stood looking out towards the students, all of them wearing similar expressions of exhaustion from the dance the previous night. She followed her friends toward their usual seats at the Gryffindor table and she caught a sight of teal hair. Without a word as she approached her friends, she slid down into the seat beside Teddy feeling her cheeks warm. She shifted her head so her hair fell in a curtain around her face, blocking his few of her expression and concentrated on the meal infront of her. Roast beef sandwitches with gravy. She reached to the center of the table for the bottle of ketchup and noticed that none of her friends were talking, that a slightly awkward silence had settled around them. They seemed to be waiting for her to speak and she felt her blush deepen. Absent mindedly tucking the hair behind her ears, she took a huge bite of her sandwitch and looked around at her friends, all of whom looked like they were avoiding her eye. Suddenly from across the table she heard a snort of laughter. Her eyes immideatly flashed to the source- Sean was sitting with his hand over his mouth trying to stifle the noise and deliberatly trying not to make eye contact. Another snort- this time from her right and she turned to look at Ginger who's face was starting to turn pink she was trying to hold in a laugh.

"What?" Victoire said through a mouthful, and now Clyde had let out a laugh, followed swiftly by Marcy and then Jensen. "_What?_" she repeated again, swallowing. "Seriously, what is it?"

"Erm..." came a voice to her left and she flicked her eyes over to Teddy who seemed to be trying to hold in his own hysterics. "You got a bit of something..." He pointed to her mouth and she felt herself blush. "What is it?" she drew the back of her hand up to her face and wiped her mouth. It came away smeared with ketchup.

"Oh Merlin..." she said, and suddenly she was laughing, her body shaking with the sound. Clyde let out his loud guaffaw followed by Ginger's shrill giggle and the next thing she knew the whole group of their friends were falling about in hysterics earning them several strange looks from other students as they tried to figure out what the big joke was.

"Ick!" Victoire laughed, grabbing a napkin and wiping her face, coming off with more ketchup. "God, it's everywhere!" They laughed harder and she could feel Ginger leaning into her side. Across the table Clyde and Jensen were sandwitched between Sean and Marcy all of whom were rolling about in laughter, leaning on each other to keep from falling and she felt a hand reach towards her from her right and wrap itself around her shouders, giving her a squeeze. She glanced towards the source and saw Teddy- his hair bright from the giddyness, leaning back in a laugh, his arm wrapped around her shoulders in a half hug. In that moment; good food, warm friends and laughter- she couldn't have ask for a better way to set things straight.

She hadn't seen Alex since the previous night after he'd gone off to talk to Josephine so that afternoon she decided to make her way down to the Beauxbatons carrige to see if she could find him. It was colder then yesterday when she had gone to give Teddy his gift... had it only been yesterday? It seemed like weeks since she'd seen that vulnerability in his eyes, watched him blink back the emotion he so rarely showed. She had a flashback of his hands around her waist as they danced the night before and how handsome he'd looked and how he'd called her beautiful. She felt a warmth in her cheeks and was glad there was no one around to see her blush at the memory. She was just coming up to the carrige when in the corner of her eye she saw a black speck down by the lake. Turning her head and squinting to get a better look, she saw it was a person. Upon furthur inspection, she saw it was _two_people.

They were standing fairly close to each other and seemed to be having a hurried conversation. Their voices caught on the wind that blew off the lake and she caught a whisper of heated voices, urgency and passion, all in definite french.

She had found Alex.

Wondering what he and Josephine were talking about but not wanting to disturb, she started to walk away but it was to no use, Josephine was already departing, walking away from Alex across the shore of the lake, her arms wrapped tightly around her to keep out the cold. Alex turned away from her direction and started walking back to the carrige, not noticing Victoire. Thinking it was probably a bad time, she turned to go but not before another strong gust of wind shot across the frozen earth and hit her square in the back of the neck, sending a violent shiver down her spine. To her the movement was suttle but from behind her she heard her name being called and knew Alex had spotted her. She turned around and palced a guilty smile on her face, feeling some how intrusive. She waved and he approched steadily, his black coat flapping out behind him in the wind.

"Hello." she said smiling. "You ran off awfully fast last night. That eager to get away from me?" she joked and he smiled.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I tried to find you in the hall afterwards but the room was emptying pretty fast and I got caught up in it all." he said, running a hand through his thick blonde hair. There was a moments silence and Victoire figured she would do the obvious thing and break it with the question they both knew she wanted to ask.

"So how'd it go?"

He looked at her wearily and let out a sigh, cracking a small smile.

"Walk with me." he said, taking her arm and leading her towards the castle.

Minutes later they sat in the library, the dusty smell surrounding them with warmth and the hushed voices of other students fusing to a dim chatter that settled around the shelves. They occupied the small table by the window overlooking the grounds. In the distance Toire could see Hagrid's hut settled underneith a gentle fog that arose from the chimy and set soft clouds ghosting through the air, but she tried to keep her attention on Alex as he explained what had happened the previous night.

"I did what you said." he sighed, tossing his coat onto the back of his chair as the two of them sat down. "I stepped in. You would have laughed if you'd have seen their faces." he smiled. "The boyfriend looked like he wanted to punch me but Josie just looked surprised. He left though, to go get her a drink or something, I don't quite remember."

"That can't be all though." Victoire pressed, wanting the details from her friend.

"It's not." he sighed. "We were dancing and... I told her she was gorgeous, I couldn't help it. I know she's got a boyfriend but I'm in love with her Toire. She was blushing like crazy and I asked her why she was getting so flustered and she said, get this, she said 'I wish we'd been able to have this moment four months ago'."

"What happened four months ago?" Toire asked, leaning forwards in anticipation.

"She started dating that fool Peter just under four months ago. Four months ago she was still single."

Victoire made a face. "Oh, that's harsh."

"Tell me about it." he continued. "So of course that made me want to back right off and usually I would have. But there was something about how she said it, something about the moment that I just couldn't. So I..." he blushed and spat out the next bit hastily. "...I leaned down and whispered in her ear that I didn't care, and that I was doing it now. I told her that I cared about her, more then anything I've ever cared about in my life. I felt like nothing could stop me when I was with her, that's probably why I was talking like such a moron, but she didn't seem to think so I guess because she grabbed my hand and pulled me off the dance floor."

Victoire's eyebrows had practically disapeared into her hairline she was so into the story.

"She pulled me out of the hall and into the gardens, and she didn't speak the whole time, she just kept walking. Finally we got to this closed off area where no one was around. She was shivering like mad, it was freezing out. I offered to give her my jacket and all of a sudden she whirls around and starts yelling! She says that it's my fault for not 'making a move' earlier and 'Why couldn't you have just _told_ me?' and 'Do you know how worried I was when you got picked champion?' and all that. I'd never seen her so mad and I'd never wanted to kiss her more then I did when she was yelling at me. She was just so... so _Josephine_. It had been so long since I'd seen that side of her, that firey temper she keeps bottled up inside her. She's tiny but she's fiercer then that bloody dragon I had to take on, that's for sure. And finally I couldn't take it anymore. She was in the middle of her sentence and I just stepped up and grabbed her. I had my hands on her shoulders and I think I shook her a bit, just telling her to stop, stop talking, please. She looked so shocked again, so surprised, and I had to do it. I had to kiss her. So I did."

He stopped talking and Victoire looked on in awe. So much had happened the previous night, to both of them. She couldn't believe how bold he had been, couldn't believe this story he was telling her. He looked exhaused though, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. She didn't need to tell him to continue. He did that on his own.

"After about a minute or two she pushed away." he said, starting up again slowly. "She'd been surprised at first, but then she was kissing me back and I could have sworn that everything was going to be fine from then on. But then she pushed me and I remembered everything. That what we were doing wasn't right. So she pushed me back and just stared at me and finally she ran off. Didn't say a word. She just ran."

"Merlin..." Victoire breathed, but he continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"I went to find her this morning. I saw her out at the lake and I couldn't just leave what had happened between the two of us hanging. So I went out to talk to her. She was really upset too. Apperently Peter had been all over her about where she had been and why hadn't she told him and she just got so frustrated that she told him to fuck off and stormed away back to her rooms. I wanted to tell her to break up with him but she seemed so confused that I felt it would be pretty insensitive. Then she asked me why I did it."

"Why you kissed her?"

"Yeah. She wanted to know, in all honesty. Like it wasn't just a spur of the moment thing. She wanted to be sure."

"What did you tell her?" Toire asked, and Alex looked up at his friend through his eyelashes.

"I told her I kissed her because I'm in love with her. I told her I kissed her, because it was painful not to. And then she walked away."

He sat back to show that the story was done, and Victoire let out a breath. The noise of the room came back to her and she hadn't realized that she'd been blocking it out.

"My God, Alex..." she said, not knowing what else to say. "Well good for you."

He let out a half snort of laughter.

"You really think so?" he asked, smiling sadly.

"Of course I do!" she exclaimed. "Alex, you told her how you feel! Almost no one does that anymore. They just keep everything bottled up inside because they're too afraid of what it could ruin. You threw that to the wind and stood up for what you believed in. You're amazing." she smiled.

"I don't feel all that amazing." he mumbled, not meeting her eyes, his cheeks warming at the compliment.

"Alex look at me." she said seriously. "I can almost guerentee you that Josephine will seek you out. Any girl in her right mind won't be able to stay away from you once you've acted like that. If she loves you, she'll find you."

Alex held her gaze, not wavering. Finally he reached across the table and squeezed her hand in thanks.

"Well in that case, I hope you're right." he smiled.

So time passed, as time often does. December days vansished and the next thing they all knew the winter months had passed, leaving them with damp grass and melted snow. Clear skys on the horizon. Victoire went back to her classes along with her friends, fully accepting her new found feelings for Teddy and embracing the leap in her stomach every time she saw him. Ginger and Sean seemed to be closer and Marcy and Clyde were still going strong if you didn't count the now historic row on Valentine's day when Clyde thought it would be funny to send Marcy a bouqet of flowers infested with Doxy eggs while Victoire was given a bouquet of lavender from Teddy at dinner that night. The flowers kept through all of March and she smelled them every day as she helped Alex prepare for the second task, going over charms and defensive spells with him in empty classrooms through the wee hours of the morning. He was given an amazing surprise at the end of the first task as well, post to imergining off his broom in first place after the in air obsticle race that had been set up for the champions. Shortly after he was given his results and was leaving the areana happily, he was charged at by a weeping Josephine who proceeded to fling her arms around his neck and, kissing him, cried out "I'm so sorry! I love you too!" while he kissed her back being careful to avoid irretating the burns caused by his in-air run in with a Horntail.

And then it was spring, the new buds blooming along with Alex and Josie's romance. They were often seen strolling together on the grouds and would sometimes participate in group Quiddich matches the friends would engage in. By the time the final task rolled around everyone was cheering for Alex as well as Teddy himself who had been more then impressed with Alex's broom skills. They cheered together for him as he compleated challenge after challenge in the third task and Victoire couldn't help tearing up a bit as he won that final battle and held the Tri-Wizard Cup up for all to see.

The after party was marvoulous, with everyone getting much too drunk in a close quarters but fortunatly Victoire, who had sworn to stay sober due to not wanting another embarressing incident, looked after them all. Even Teddy who she ended up helping into bed. As she stared at him that night, smiling to herself, she couldn't help thinking how nice it would be if it could always be like this. Just her and her friends. Memories that would last forever.

Finally that June day came. The day the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were to set out back home. The grounds were covered in students, all hugging and saying goodbye, some even crying at the thought of leaving their friends.

"You have to promise to write." Josephine said, her voice thick with tears as she hugged Victoire.

"Of course Josie, of course I will." she said, her own eyes stinging as well. She hugged the girl a final time before turning to the blonde boy infront of her.

Alex stood there, looking at her long and hard, his face serious. Suddenly it split into a grin and she threw herself forward into his arms, tears rolling down her face.

"Thank you." he whispered in her ear. "For everything."

"I'll miss you." she choked out. "So much. You're so brave Alex."

He pulled away and left his hands on her shoulders, using one of his thumbs to wipe one of her tears away.

"I'll be looking forward to hearing how your relationship progress works out." he smiled, and she felt herself blush when he nodded to Teddy. "You two are perfect." he whispered in her ear. Then, with a final kiss on the cheek, he was gone, climbing back into the carrige, waving all the way. The giant paliminos reared their heads and the carrige took flight, hurtling into the sky and disapearing throught the clouds. They were long gone, but Victoire was still waving when she realized something.

Alex and Josephine. Their story was not unlike hers and Teddy's. Maybe... she really could have him.

As if on cue a familiar warmth sidled up to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She glanced up and Teddy and without thinking to regret it, leaned into his arm. He seemed surprised but pleased as he spoke. "Life's going to seem pretty boring after all that." he said, squeezing her arm happily.

"Oh I don't know." she smiled, leaning furthur into him and loving the feel of muscle under his clothes. "I think we'll be able to make it pretty eventful."

**MY BEAUTIFUL REVIEWERS! AND SO ENDS THIS YEAR FOR TEDDY AND VICTOIRE AT HOGWARTS! This means that the next year, Teddy's 7th and Victoire's 6th year at Hogwarts, will be the last chunk of this fic :( Also the most ROMANTIC AND FLIRT FILL PART! So stay tuned for the glory! More amazing shocks and thrills to come! Also an enormous thanks to you all for sticking around. I love you more then Hagrid loves Hippogriffs. **

**I love you so much however, that if you wish me to do so, I will write another one-shot about Josie and Alex's kiss in the garden, as a special Christmas gift to you. Just let me know in the review box if you want it!**

**xxxxx**

**Hugs and love,**

**-Cal**


	25. Summer to Remember

**A.N: Hey guys, so I'm back :) This chapter is going to be a bit of a filler and also something that is kind of going to shape how i'll be writing the characters in the next and final chunk of this fic. It's kind of like a side story. Also I'd like to remind you to assume that most of this chapter is spoken in french, for obvious reasons you will soon discover. Thanks for the reviews and I hope 2012 will be treating you well! You're all amazing and I love the faves and alerts this is getting. So thank you. **

That summer shaped her.

The Hogwarts Express had pulled into the station that June and Victoire, who had been sharing the compartment with her friends, said her final goodbyes and headed off the train. She stopped by Dominique's compartment, tapping on the glass to remind her and the rest of her cousins that their family was waiting. Dominique waved her on, so Victoire rolled her eyes before taking a step away. She was just about to leave when she remembered her book bag. She'd left it in the compartment in her hurry to find her sister. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she whirled around and made her way back to the room they'd been occupied in. She slid open the glass door and took a quick look around. Her bag wasn't on the seat where she'd left it and it wasn't in the overhead compartment. The nerves in her stomach clenched and she glanced around again, this time more desperately. She took a step backwards to turn into the hall and bumped into something warm and solid.

"Looking for this?"

She turned round to see who had spoken although she already knew without seeing. Teddy stood behind her, his trunk in one hand and her bag in the other. He was smiling smugly as if he had predicted she'd be there no matter what.

"What've you done to it?" she asked, narrowing her eyes but smiling to show she was joking while taking the bag from him.

"Ruined all your books, left a few dungbombs, dulled your quills..."

"The list goes on." she smiled, bumping his hip with hers and she scooted past. "Have you been off the train yet?"

"No, I was waiting for you." he said, glancing in the compartment Dominique had been in previously but it was empty so he moved on.

"Kind of you." she said, dodging a group of fourth years spilling out of their room last minute and laughing loudly down the train.

"I know."

She turned on him, quirking her eyebrow at the comment. A grin stretched over his face and she could have sworn his hair brightened a shade. "I mean, it was no problem, don't worry about it." he said jokingly, earning him a slap on the arm which made him chuckle. He opened the door of the train and the two of them blinked into the bright sun, squinting around in the light.

"Victoire!"

The blond flicked her head to the direction her name had been called and there in the biggest group of all the families on the platform, she saw the Weasleys. "There they are." she said to Teddy, who had just noticed them. She stepped off the train and grabbed his arm without thinking, pulling him along towards her parents who she could see had just stepped out of the crowd.

"Maman!" she beamed, releasing Teddy's hand and letting herself become embraced by her mother.

"I've meezed you so much." Fleur crooned into her daughters ear, stroking her blond hair. Out of the corner of her eye Toire could see Teddy being clapped on the shoulder by his godfather and Ginny holding Lily who looked like she wanted nothing more then to play with Teddy's hair.

"I've missed you too." she smiled, squeezing her mum before pulling away.

"You're nevar staying at zat school ovar Chreesmas evar again." she said, waving her finger. "I can't 'andle your absence."

"There she is." came a voice from behind. Toire turned and her smile stretched wider. Her father smiled back, his scars stretching in the expression and he held his arms open for her to run into them.

"Missed you dad." she said, feeling her eye water slightly at the sudden reunion. She'd always been close to her mum but it was her dad she went to when needing advice and someone to talk to.

"Exciting year?" he smiled, pulling away and brushing a strand of her hair out of her face.

"You wouldn't believe." she said, memories of the Tri-Wizard Tournament returning. "I met the most amazing people from Beauxbatons, you wouldn't believe how great they are. They all live in France, obviously, and-"

"Oh that reminds me!" Bill interrupted and she raised her eyebrows at this sudden pleased expression that appeared on his face. "Did your mother tell you the news?"

"What news?" she said, whirling on her mother who looked as if she had just rememberd.

"Oh yes!" Fleur announced, beaming. "Victoire you are goeen to be so excited." she smiled. "Zees summer weel be one to remembar."

Victoire thought of all the plans she had for this summer, all the ideas and plots and stored charm she'd saved up for all this time she'd be spending with Teddy. Three months with Teddy and Teddy alone. It was going to be marvelous.

"Why, is someone coming to visit?" Victoire asked, her mind still on her summer plans and what swimsuit she was going to wear.

"Quite the opposite." Bill said, casting a glance at his wife. Something stirred in the back of Toire's mind and she looked up, her brows creasing.

"What then?"

Fleur looked as if she couldn't hold it in much longer.

"Your aunt Gabrielle eez getting married!" she burst, her face lighting up as she said so. "We aare spending zee summar in France!"

Victoire's smile froze on her face just as Teddy's head turned in their direction, his face wearing a similar expression from overhearing their conversation.

"We leave in three days." Bill smiled.

And just like that, Victoire's summer plans vanished.

She didn't want to admit she loved France, but after the first couple of hours at her aunt's, she knew for sure that she was falling in love.

Gabrielle's fiancee's estate was a villa in the South of France. Upon arrival, Victoire could barely believe her eyes at the sight that awaited her there. Acres and acres of grapevines all belonging to the family. The villa was massive; a beautiful Terra Cotta building that looked like it belonged in the vineyards of Italy, but instead fit right at home nestles in the french valley. Also as expected, they spoke nothing but french. The moment they apperated they were flocked with dozens of french cousins, aunts and uncles. Toire caught sight of her uncle-to-be, a man by the name of Terrance LaRoux. Bill looked a bit lost in the middle of it but Fleur had taken his hand and guided him around, introducing him to all her relatives and guiding the conversations towards more basic subjects that he could understand in his limited knowledge of the language. Dominique seemed to fit in quite well also, the other twelve year olds whisking her away to the fields out back to play games with their wands and they were all quite impressed when she presented them with her stash of Weasley Wizard Wheezes products. Louis was asleep in his mothers arms, an adorable three year old, he was the center of attention when awake however few those moments came. Victoire, it seemed, had been left behind. As the rest of her family was swept away into the magic of the warm french countryside, she stood in the courtyard abandoned, longing for home where she could be herself and see her friends. She didn't even want to think of all the things she was missing out on, all the inside jokes that would be passed round when she returned, all the games and Quiddich matches, not to mention the upper hand Teddy would get on her with one on one. _Teddy_. Even the thought of his name brought longing to her heart and she couldn't begin to imagine a whole summer without him.

"You've Victoire, right?"

The voice came from behind her and she turned, startled. There, watching her, was a group of girls who looked to be about her age, all startlingly beautiful. The tallest was the plainest of the group, which wasn't to say she wasn't good looking, just that the other two stood out more. She had sun kissed skin and chestnut brown hair tied into a bun at the nape of her neck. The other two, a blond and a brunette who Victoire thought her hair would have been black if the sun didn't reveal it's true colour. She couldn't tell which of them had spoken and recognized the blond one faintly. On her guard, she answered the question.

"Yes, I am."

"You're right Clarisse, she is gorgeous." the tall one muttered to the blond who nodded and smiled kindly. The name rung a familiar bell in the back Toire's mind, and after taking a second glance at the blond she finally placed it.

"Clare?" she asked, and the blond nodded her head. "My God you look different." she grinned and the blond stepped forward to hug her.

"You see, I told you my cousin would recognize me." Clarisse said to the two other girls who were looking less suspicious and friendlier by the second. Victoire, who wasn't used to so much girl time with people she didn't know very well was slightly taken off guard but recovered herself quickly. "Look at you." Victoire smiled. "You look amazing. How have you been?"

"Bored out of my goddamn mind." Clare laughed, throwing her head back with the noise, her Veela beauty illuminated in the sun. "What about you, english girl? I see you haven't lost any of your talent for the language."

One of the girls cleared her throat and Victoire remembered they were there. It was the dark haired one, probably the most striking of the group, her beauty dark and smoldering as opposed to Clare's innocence and the taller girl's simplicity. "Are you going to make introductions Clarisse, or are we going to stand here all night?" She smiled while she said it and Victoire saw that this girl seemed to be someone who was used to getting what they wanted. Whether this was good or bad she wasn't sure. Either way, the girl was the image of confidence.

"Oh, of course." Clare beamed, not bothered by the tone in her friend's voice. "Victoire, these are our new cousins, relatives of Terrance's." Both girls nodded to Victoire but didn't extend their hands to shake like Toire usually would have.

"This is Belle," she said, and the taller girl waved. "...Terrence's niece. And this is Fifi, Belle's cousin." The darker haired girl smiled. "It's short for Josephine. I hate it, but it sticks." she said, rolling her eyes.

"I met a girl from Beauxbatons this past year named Josephine." Victoire mused, and Fifi quirked an eyebrow.

"We all go to Beauxbatons. What year is she in?"

"Senior I think. She came over to Hogwarts for the Tournament." Belle's expression changed to one of great interest.

"Oh I'm _so jealous_." she sighed, and the next thing Toire had noticed they had fallen into step with one another and were walking across the courtyard towards the gardens. "I wanted to watch it so bad, everyone said it was amazing."

"Oh hush, you just wanted to watch that Alexandre Marlow." Fifi scoffed to which Belle blushed a bright scarlet.

"You mean Alex?" Victoire said, glancing over at Belle who froze as she said his name. "You know him?" Belle asked, seemingly riveted.

"Well... yes. I helped him with the tournament. He game me his address when I wrote him telling him I was coming up to France, told me to drop by sometime-"

Victoire was interrupted as Belle let out a strangled sort of squeal, causing her to jump a bit in shock. "Oh my GOD please take me with you!" she squealed, clutching Toire's arm with more strength then she was expecting.

"Christ, you harpy, get your talons out of the poor girl." Fifi scolded, swatting Belle with her arm and causing the girl to remember her place and settle down. There was a slightly awkward silence until Fifi turned to look at Toire and gave her a blinding smile.

"So." she said, her eyes gleaming curiously. "Are you up for an adventure?"

The village was ablaze with life.

Toire followed Fifi and the girls through the crowded streets of Nuipale, the neighboring town to the villa. It was a Friday night, and as Fifi had said, the night of adventure. Victoire wasn't exactly certain on what that was all about until Clarisse explained in as they got ready in Belle and Fifi's room.

"Every Friday since I've gotten here, we always head into town. Fifi's got it all sorted out. Each Friday we have to complete the list."

Victoire was in no way used to spending time with sophisticates. Not that Ginger and Marcy weren't mature. They were English girls. Different in comparison. Fifi was born and raised in Paris. Claimed the city ran through her blood. She had a craving for trouble and adventure, and every week she insisted the girls accompany her as she got her fix.

"What's the list?" Toire asked, baffled at this complicated system the girls had come up with.

Fifi reached for something tacked to the wall and handed it to Toire wordlessly while continuing to apply her makeup. Victoire glanced down at the paper and read.

_~Friday Night Adventure List~_

_To maintain a successful Friday night, one must complete AT LEAST five of the following items. _

_- Dance with 5 different boys_

_- Snog at least three_

_- Receive 8 compliments min. (whistles don't count.)_

_- Have someone buy you a drink WITHOUT ASKING_

_- Be complimented on your snogging abilities_

_- Be asked for your number min. 5 times_

_- Make it to 2nd base_

_- Make it to 3rd base_

_- Do something illegal_

_- Visit someplace you've never been before_

_- Other (this space is left empty for any other significant act of brilliance you have the power to prove.)_

Victoire put down the list and stared at all the girls openly. "You can't be serious." she said finally, still not believing what she was about to partake in.

"Why ever not?" Fifi asked from the mirror, still not breaking concentration on her mascara.

"Well..." Victoire was at a loss for words. "Well... because it's ridiculous! I mean how could you possibly pull any of this off?"

Belle whipped her head around from where she was using the mirror on the opposite of the room. "Are you daft?"

Victoire frowned, feeling insulted. "No. I just don't see how you could manage to pull five of these off in one night."

"Fifi pulled off the whole list in a night at least four times. Once before midnight." Clare said, not trying to take sides but defending her friend all the same.

"So of course it's possible." Belle stated as if to finalize the subject, her tone not as kind as Clare's. Victoire stood there for a moment as an uncomfortable silence settled around them. She was embarrassed and tired and wanted to go home to her family. She missed her grandparents and her aunts and uncles and cousins and Teddy. How she missed Teddy...

"Now wait a minute girls."

All heads turned in the direction of Fifi, who had just spoken.

"I think I see what's going on here." She put down the mascara and spun in her seat to look at Toire head on, who suddenly felt like she was on the chopping block at the ministry. Fifi studied her quietly before opening her mouth to speak.

"You've got someone back home."

She says it like a statement, not a question and Victoire wasn't ready for it. She started at the words and the slow Weasley blush crept up her face. The last thing she wanted to do was discuss her relationship, or lack there of, with a group of girls she didn't know, let alone trust. But it was too late. They'd seen it on her face and Fifi now wore an expression that make Victoire uneasy.

"He must be something special to make you like you are." she said, not unkindly.

"What do you mean?" Victoire asked, cautious.

"Look at yourself Victoire." Fifi said, leaning back and crossing her legs. "You're sixteen years old. It's clear you've been after the same boy for most of your life and you've got absolutely no skill to win him over. What kind of mentors do you have down on that English farm of yours?"

Victoire was baffled, her mouth open and gaping at Fifi's bold statement.

"I've got a proposal." Fifi said, ignoring Victoire's expression. "I'll skip the Friday Night ritual if you agree to let us help you."

"Help me with what?" she managed to say amidst all the embarrassment.

"Your guy scenario. The wedding's in three weeks. I can give you my word that if you follow my advice and practice, you'll have him in no time when you see him again."

The room was silent once again, the girls waiting for Victoire to answer. Did she really need help? Or could she say no, leave the girls, go her own way with Teddy. Be his friend.

But that was her problem, she told herself. She was always his friend. Nothing more. Sure, she gave him some hints, and the ball had been magical but when it came to flirting, with the exception of a few bursts of improv, she was a dud. She relied on her looks, and even those she wasn't too confident about. Here was Fifi, handing her a free pass to girlhood. She would be a fool not to take it.

"Okay." Victoire said slowly, and the girl's eyes lit up. "But I've got some boundaries." she said, raising her hands as Belle made a clicking noise and rolled her eyes. "First... nothing too heavy. I don't want to change who I am. Just learn a few tips."

Fifi looked slightly miffed but nodded all the same.

"Second," Victoire went on, feeling a bit more confident. "No "third base" or anything like that. I'm not getting into that. No chance."

"What about second base?" Belle asked from her spot on by the mirror.

"What's that again?"

"Oral."

"Oh, Merlin NO!" Victoire said, waving her arms and trying not to make a face that showed her immediate displeasure. Maybe this was a bad idea. These girls weren't anything like what she was used to and she didn't exactly want to be like them.

"I get it." Fifi said, sliding off the chair and putting on her slingbacks. "You're the girl next door type. You want to keep things simple. I respect that. Now let's go."

"Wait," Victoire said, as the girls made their way towards the door. "I thought we weren't going to the whole Friday Fun thing or whatever."

"Of course not." Fifi said, half way out the door. "But that doesn't mean we're passing up a night in town. You'll learn on the go. Come on."

So there she was on the streets of Nuipale, the bustling crowds squeezing and slithering past her, causing her to trip over the cobble stones in her flats and baffle at how Fifi and the others could stay so upright in three inch heels. She was falling behind in the crowd, lost in the glow of the paper lanterns that were strung over each street and the smooth language that seemed to flow through the crowd like the wine at the LaRoux's vineyard. Suddenly she felt something sharp dig into her arm and looked down to see it was Fifi's red manicured nails, getting a hold on her and dragging her forwards to where the girls stood.

"First thing's first." Fifi said, glancing around at the throng. Victoire tried to follow her gaze and noticed she was checking the premises for guys. The closer Toire looked, the more of them she could see and the more of them could see _her. _She swallowed her nerves and waited for Fifi to go on.

"Guys don't want a girl who acts like a guy." she said to Toire, giving her a pointed look. "They want something they're not used to. Someone who'll push their boundaries to the right point, without making them feel stupid or weak."

"Huge egos." Belle noted from Fifi's right.

"It's the testosterone." Clarisse added to Toire's left.

"Right. So to get someone to like you, first you need to stand out."

As if on cue, Clarisse broke away from the group to go over to one of the drink vendors set up on the street. Her sapphire blue sequined dress flashed and stood out among the crowd of blacks and browns, the sequins catching the light and making her sparkle every which way. Victoire watched as a group of guys around their age standing off to the side were watching her, and how they pushed one of their friends over to her direction.

"Standing out, check." Belle said, a smug smile curling her mouth.

"Once you've got their attention, you've got to hold it." Fifi continued as the guy walked up to Clare and leaned against the side of the booth, striking up a conversation. "Don't play dumb with them. That's too easy and it's what they expect. You need to either do something bold or stun them with your charm and wit. You have to be unforgettable."

"This is easier for Clare then it is for most though." Belle added, scowling slightly.

"Why's that?" Victoire asked, pulling her eyes away to take in Belle's miffed expression.

"She's Veela." Belle said, as if it were obvious. "Just needs to work up a bit of magic and she's good."

Victoire stood there puzzled. She was just as much Veela as Clarisse, if not more. Why didn't she know about any "veela magic"?

"I don't think there's such thing." Toire said without thinking. Fifi glanced over at her.

"You went to the Yule Ball? That comes with the Tournament, yes?"

"Yes..." Toire said, unsure of where this was going.

"How many invites did you get?" Now it was Toire's turn to blush. Fifi took that as her answer. "Quite a bit, I'm guessing." she said, turning her attention back to Clare who was now allowing the boy to buy her drink for her. "Definitely above average. There was a reason for all those invites Victoire. Your Veela blood can work even when you don't want it too."

She stood there shocked. She guessed this should have made her feel pleased, happy that she was so lucky as to always be considered beautiful. But all it did was worry her. What if that was the only way Teddy had been looking at her the way he had the past few months. Because of something she couldn't control, something in her blood.

"You seem like a smart girl though. I trust that your boy can see deeper then that when it comes to you." Fifi said, as if reading Toire's mind. She spoke the words in her same high end accent, but Victoire sensed that she was trying to make her feel better underneath the cold tone she always had to her voice, and she appreciated it.

"Here, look." she said, pointing back to Clarisse, who was now leading the boy away from the stand, downing the drink in one. "Once you've got him stuck and interested, you show him a good time." They watched the couple disappear down an alley way that led to who knows where as Fifi turned to look in another direction.

"They'll be gone for awhile. But when the time is right, she'll break away. It will be flawless, and he'll forever be left wanting more. This is what will draw him to her."

She blinked as if snapping out of a dream and turned back to Victoire. "And there you have it. That's the basics of capture."

"That's it?" Victoire asked, staring at her new acquaintances.

"Well, it's harder then it looks once you start." Belle commented, eyeing one of the other boys in the group the boy Clare had gone off with had come from.

"So let's get over that bump, shall we?" Fifi called, and the girls turned to see her in the middle of the street, the crowd seemingly moving around her, everyone turning heads to catch a glance of the beautiful girl. She couldn't have looked more at home.

"The night is young." she called, a smile on her face now as the warm summer wind blew past them, catching up ribbons that hung from the buildings and sending them sailing through the air. Fifi reached out and caught one and then Belle did the same, giving Toire a look that meant she should follow. Victoire reached out her hand and felt a smooth strand of material float into her hand. She glanced at the bright teal ribbon; the exact same colour as Teddy's hair, and without having to know it was what she was meant to do, tied it round her wrist.

"You've got lots to learn!" Fifi called again, disappearing down the street, leaving the two girls to follow her. A church bell chimed somewhere in the distance and a band started to play, the sweet music swirling through the air and making the city dance and spin. "Come on English girl!" came Fifi's voice from farther down the street and in spite of herself, Victoire smiled.

It was going to be an interesting summer.

It was. Each day Victoire woke, and each day she was pampered and treated to good food and company by her french relatives. She'd had time to take trip up to Paris to visit with Alex and Josephine, both of whom seemed more in love then when she'd last seen them. She learned more and more about the people around her. Terrance, her soon to be uncle, was friendly and chivalrous. He reminded Toire of the fairy tale princes one would see in the muggle fairytales her grandfather used to read her, making him the perfect match for the gentle Gabrielle. Belle wasn't really as cruel as she seemed, just incredibly insecure about her future, something Victoire discovered during a drunken game of truth or dare a few nights into her stay. Belle had no problem with getting boys to look at her, but always feared they wouldn't stick around long enough to give her what she really wanted: a committed relationship. Clarisse was an angel, and Victoire often thought that if she didn't have the habit of hooking up with random guys every time they went out, she would fit in with Ginger and Marcy quite well. She was amazing with Louis, and always offered to help out with the kids when the adults were tired. Fifi was like no one Victoire had ever met before. She was glamorous and serious, but always on good terms with everyone. She had a way about her that oozed class and confidence, a trait that drew everyone to her.

She also stuck to her deal. Instead of teaching Victoire how to hook up with strangers, she showed her the basics. Simple things like different ways to wear her hair, or tricks with makeup to make her eyes seem brighter. She taught her the difference between when a guy was actually interested or when he just wanted to get into her pants. She taught her how to hold her liquor and techniques to use to disguise the smell of alcohol so her parents wouldn't be able to tell the difference. She showed her how to make jello shooters and on one rainy night when everyone was asleep except for the two of them, she showed her how to make the best chocolate chip cookies Victoire had ever tasted. "It's not just an old wives tale." Fifi explained while putting the cookies in the oven to a pyjama clad Victoire who sat on the counter, scraping the rest of the dough out of the bowl with her finger. The rain pattered on the windows of the quiet house. Everyone was sleeping except for the two of them, and Victoire felt nothing but comfort in this old house, surrounded by family. Fifi closed the oven and pulled her long dark hair back into a ponytail, reveling her face which was for once, not covered in makeup. She looked younger. Less severe and mysterious. More like a girl you'd see buying flowers, or chatting with the neighbors. "For some people, the way to a mans heart is through his stomach." she smiled, and Toire noticed the dark circles under her eyes. All those nights out didn't include sleep, she supposed. "It's good to know at least one recipe to keep them around."

The day of the wedding came in a rush.

"Get up! Get up! Only four hours till it starts!" called Clarisse as she stormed around the room, throwing open windows and opening curtains. Belle let out a groan and shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun. The previous night, Gabrielle had invited all the girls sixteen and over out for her bachelorette party. Victoire had steered away from the alcohol, knowing about the early morning and all the work they would be faced with in the hours leading up to the wedding. Belle hadn't been so thoughtful.

"Do you have your dresses?" Clare called from the dresser where she was scrambling to find her push up bra.

"On the door of the wardrobe!" Victoire called, swinging her legs out of bed and padding her way across the hall to the showers. In the bathroom she recognized Fifi's painted toenails protruding from one of the shower stalls. The villa was built in a way so everyone shared all their space together. It was meant to be a group showers, but there had been some walls and curtain but up to provide people the privacy they needed.

She showered quickly and by the time she'd returned to the hall clad in a sundress to keep her decent before it was time to get changed everyone was a bustle. Children were running about like mad while their parents tried to tie their ties, the muggle caterers had just pulled up to the front of the villa and everyone was trying their best to get everything done as fast as possible without them noticing the floating stacks of laundry being driven by wands. Someone let out a call from behind and Toire turned to see what it was just in time to be blinded by a flash bulb as one of the photographers apologized, dragging his huge muggle camera after him.

"Come on Victoire, the bridesmaids are all meeting in the courtyard!" Clare called from below, and Victoire rushed along the hall to the grand stair case to meet them.

Four hours later the ceremony was in action. The friends and family of the happy couple were seated so they had a full view of the ceremony which was to be held on the yard looking over the acres of grapevines. Victoire stood at the front of the aisle next to Belle and Fifi, the photographer insisting that the two brunettes shouldn't stand next to each other, with Clarisse to Fifi's left and the closest to the aisle. Terrance faced the priest as the music started playing, and finally Gabrielle descended. Her dress flowed behind her and she seemed to be floating on air, her train being carried by Fleur who acted as her maid of honour. Three year old Louis had woken up long enough to be ring bearer, wobbling down the aisle with his tiny suit on all while being watched carefully by Bill. Finally Gabrielle arrived at the arch, and the wedding began. The vows passed quickly but Victoire had time to look out at the sea of guests. It looked as if half of Nuipale was in attendance, and all of them were teary eyed at the ceremony that passed before them. Couple exchanged their vows and the audience erupted into applause, just as a huge gust of wind flew over the wedding party. Caught up in the moment, Victoire reached for her wrist where the teal ribbon was still tied. She pulled it from her wrist and the wind swept it out of her hands, carrying it out of sight in mere seconds. Fifi was watching her and when she caught her eye Toire watched as Fifi did the same, then Belle and then Clarisse. Victoire felt tears stinging the back of her eyes at the friendship she'd made with these girls over the mere couple of weeks she'd been in France and even though she missed England terribly, she knew she would be incredibly sad to say goodbye to France.

But that day came. It was just as sunny and warm as the first day. The Weasleys stood in the courtyard, their luggage at their feet as they hugged everyone goodbye.

"We'll miss you." Belle said, embracing Victoire and squeezing her tight. "Sorry I'm such a bitch."

"Shut up you." Toire said, squeezing Belle's hand. "Come visit me sometime, I'll hook you up." she smiled, earning a laugh from Belle. "Look how confident she is." Belle trilled, stepping back to Clarisse could get her hug in.

"We might come down for Christmas. I'll try to convince my parents." she said, pulling away. "I'm curious to meet this boy of yours."

"And maybe I'll teach you a little something of what us English witches are known for. I'd love to see you try Quiddich." Toire teased, and then laughed when seeing her horrified expression. Finally she turned to Fifi. She was looking at her with a sort of bemused expression, and just when Toire thought she wasn't going to hug her, she pulled her forwards into one.

"I'm going to miss you." Victoire said, blinking back tears at the parting.

"I'm glad I met you Victoire." Fifi said, pulling away and smiling. It was a real smile, not one of the ones she reserved for her admirers. "You're an amazing friend. I wish you all the best."

"I'll see you again." Victoire said, reassuring Fifi and herself.

"Maybe next time with your new boyfriend." Fifi smiled. "I look forward to meeting him, especially after all this trouble he's caused you."

"I can't thank you enough." Victoire said, catching a glance from Bill that told her they were leaving. "Send me an owl won't you." she added.

"Every week." Fifi smiled. "And you send me some. It gets lonely at Beauxbatons."

Victoire backed away to stand with her parents, Dominique and Louis who was sleeping once again.

"Ready to go home?" Bill asked her, turning his gaze to his daughter. Victoire cast a final glance over her new friends and family. She would remember this summer for the rest of her life.

"Yes." she said finally, still not taking her eyes of her friends. "Now I'm ready."

They disapperated.


	26. Reunion

Teddy had never had such a long summer.

July seemed to stretch out for months at the Burrow. Everyday showing a new dawn, with new promise. But whenever he woke up he couldn't help but miss the person he most wanted to spend it with. Two weeks into the hottest month and not a word from Victoire. No owls, no notes, only a brief letter from Bill commenting about the weather and the extravagant french relatives. It wasn't until a particularly hot Wednesday that he finally got word from the girl herself.

He was down in the orchard playing Quiddich. Sean, Jensen and Clyde had all come down for the week to visit and keep him company. They were busy having a two on two match against each other, shirts versus skins. Teddy soared over the tops of the apple trees, quaffle tucked under one arm, the sun glistening off his bare skin. He was happy to be with his friends. Up until that week he'd had to endure the company of the other Weasleys who'd all come down for the summer. Fred, Molly and Roxanne were usually seen off somewhere coming up with obscene ideas for pranks that usually involved stealing all of Teddy's socks, while James tormented Albus in the backyard. He'd been lucky to escape even Lucy that afternoon, who had taken a severe and almost obsessive liking to him.

He noticed Sean flying right at him, ready to collide for the quaffle. Teddy ducked and whizzed flawlessly, coming out on the other side with a grin across his face.

"Oi! I'm open!"

He glanced round to see Clyde, also shirtless, balancing on his broom over by the cheap goal rings that had been built by the Weasleys years ago. Pulling back a tanned muscled arm, Teddy whipped the quaffle in his direction, watching with bright eyes as it soared through the air right into Clyde's hands. He turned swiftly to throw it through the hoop, but in that split second, Jensen had zoomed past him almost silently and snagged the ball from his hands. Now he bolted down the field, dodging a lunging Sean as he tried to intercept, but he was no match for Jensen. The brunette squeezed his body tight to the broom, and without even throwing the quaffle, flew straight through the hoop, his cry loud and triumphant.

"Show off!" Clyde yelled from across the field. "Let's see you score a real goal you tosser!"

Jensen circled round and flew a victory lap over the orchard before coming down to hover beside Teddy, the quaffle held loosely under his arm. He was breathing heavily, but the grin on his face proved he was having the time of his life. His shirt clung to his chest with sweat and he tossed the ball to Teddy to catch.

"Let's switch it up, I'm boiling in this thing." Jensen panted, peeling off the sweat stained shirt to reveal his lean frame and washboard abs, not unlike Teddy's.

"I'm not sure if Sean's up for it." Teddy smirked, and together they glanced over at Sean who had just landed and was lying on his back in the grass, completely out of breath, looking like a dead sweat monster. Teddy laughed while Jensen ran a hand through his hair, glancing off into the distance. Suddenly he squinted, as if just noticing something.

"Hey..." he said, and Teddy cast his eyes in the direction Jensen was looking. Off in the distance, he could see the silhouette of an owl soaring towards them. They stayed like that for a minute, watching the owl come towards them as they hovered some feet above the Quiddich pitch. Clyde flew over to join them and the three watched the owl.

"I think that's Vesper." Clyde said suddenly, breaking the silence. Teddy squinted and immediately recognized the tan markings on the owl.

"Yeah, it is." Jensen agreed, but before they had time to look at Teddy, he was already landing, tossing his broom to the side just as the owl flew down to greet him.

Vesper looked exhausted. His feathers were ruffled and covered in grime, his eyelids sagging from sleep deprivation. Jensen and Clyde flew down to join him just as Vesper landed on Teddy's arm. Sticking out his leg, Teddy untied the thick envelope attached. It looked like there were several different papers inside, since the thing was definitely not light, and bulged from the contents. Jensen and Clyde walked up and peered over his shoulder as he regarded the envelope.

"It's from Toire." he said, holding it like it contained the value of a million secrets from a million worlds.

"Yeah, we got that, imp brain." Clyde snorted, elbowing his friend. "Let's sit down and see what it says."

The boys walked over to Sean, who had been listening in from his spot in the grass. They all took a seat so they formed a circle, Jensen pulling out his want and conjuring up four goblets.

"_Aguamenti." _he said, and a jet of water proceeded to omit from his wand into all the glasses. Clyde then took the drinks and, muttering another spell, quickly transfigured all the liquid into pumpkin juice.

"Well don't just sit there." he said, passing the drinks around. "Open it."

With only a moment's hesitation, Teddy reached down and ripped open the top of the envelope, reveling at least twenty sheets of paper and photographs, as well as little tokens from her adventure.

"Ah, bless her, she sent candies." Clyde chuckled as Teddy emptied the contents of the package out onto the grass, little things rolling this way and that. Clyde picked up a pack of something he didn't recognize and held it up for the rest of them to see. Attached to the side was a small note, written in Victoire's familiar handwriting. He cleared his throat and read:

"_These are Lundibons, a special candy only sold here in France. With a simple spell, you can customize what each one tastes like to match the eaters desire..._"

Popping one into his mouth, Clyde immediately made a face and spat the candy out.

"Ackarrrgg!" he yelled, grabbing his pumpkin juice and taking a huge swig. "Tastes like troll dung!"

"Familiar with that taste are you?" Teddy grinned, just as Jensen grabbed the package off the ground and finished reading the note.

"_... and can only be tasted by the person they were intended for. Otherwise they'll taste like complete shit, so keep that in mind when sharing. That means you, Clyde. Lots of love, Toire. _I think she knows us too well." Jensen smirked after reading.

"If she did she would have said that bit first..." Clyde muttered downing the rest of his juice.

"Here's the original letter..." Sean said, fishing it out from the pile and passing it over to Teddy.

He held it out in front of him and scanned the note, before finally reading out loud.

"_Dear Teddy-"_

"Hey, we're here too you know." Clyde objected, and to their amusement the letter quickly corrected itself. Teddy shot Clyde a look before continuing.

"_Dear Teddy, Sean, Jensen and Clyde." _he read. "_I wish you could be here with me. I know how incredibly cheesy that sounds. 'Wish you were here!' like on one of gramp's muggle postcards, but it's true. France is different they I'd imagined, not like London at all. We're staying in this amazing house- huge, attached to a winery- and all everyone does is talk and drink and eat. Gabrielle is fine, and her husband even better. We had our dress fittings just the other day and I've attached some photos here as well as ones of other things..._"

Jensen held up a thick pile of photos held together with an elastic band.

"_...like the house and the family. I've also met some new people. One of them is my cousin, Clarisse, and the other two, Belle and Fifi, are with Gabrielle's fiancee's family. They've been great and we've been getting up to some interesting things that I'll be sure to tell you more of when I see you in person. _

_Tell the rest of the family we miss them. It's really lovely over here, but honestly? I just can't wait to come home. _

_Miss you loads. _

_Lots of love, Toire._"

"Well she sounds fine." Jensen smiled, ripping the elastic off the photos and taking a look. Teddy was still holding the letter, re reading the final line. He didn't look away until Jensen let out a loud laugh, distracting him from the words on the paper.

"What?"

"Look at this-" Jensen snickered, handing over a photo to Teddy. Looking down, he saw Bill and Louis in a beautiful backyard. Louis was holding a croquet mallet and swinging it back and forth while Bill guided and spoke to him. Bill pointed off to something outside the frame and then looked behind him, just as Louis took a swing and elbowed Bill in the eye.

Teddy let out a laugh as he watched Bill grab his eye and Louis start laughing hysterically.

"These are great..." Jensen smiled, taking in the group of pictures as he passed them around the circle. One of the photos displayed an enormous villa with people rushing about in the courtyard carrying everything from plates and knifes to five men lifting an enormous wedding cake. On the back, Victoire had written down subtitles. _The morning of the wedding_, this one read. In others there was a photo of Dominique hiding out in a tree with a number of tanned cousins. One of Fleur and Gabrielle, both wearing matching blue sunhats. Louis sleeping in the shade beside Bill who was nursing a black eye... the photos went on. The boys passed them round until Sean spoke up. "Oi, look at this." he grinned, handing the photo over to Teddy. It was a shot of a hallway in the villa. There were open windows on the left side looking into the courtyard, and doors that led to bedrooms on the right. Teddy could see people scrambling around the hall, crossing it from room to room, levitating stacks of laundry past the frame. Suddenly out of the blue, there was a flash, and Victoire was there. She seemed in a hurry, her silvery blond hair worn loose and appearing slightly damp as it fanned out in a curtain behind her. She wore a loose yellow sundress and no shoes, one of the dresses short sleeves slipping off her shoulder and reveling a freckled arm. Just that picture of skin alone made Teddy's stomach do flips, and he watched on as she stopped midway through the hall to turn towards the camera, completely taken off guard. She seemed to have changed even more in the weeks they'd been apart. Her legs slimmer and leaner, her hair longer, even her eyes seemed bluer. She must have been doing something differently because Teddy could not remember a time when she had been so beautiful. Then, flashing the camera a smile, she left, disappearing right out of the frame.

The pictures after that one all contained Victoire. Victoire dancing with her cousins, picking grapes in the vineyard, posing with her sister...

Finally Teddy picked one up from the wedding. It was a picture of four girls, all of them exceptionally beautiful. They were all dressed in pale lavender, the dresses ending mid thigh and showing off their long legs. On the far right was the tallest girl, brown hair piled high on top of her head as she smiled poised for the camera. Closest to the isle was a blond who looked a bit like Victoire, but with a rounder face and brown eyes. Beside her was a striking beauty- dark brown hair and wicked bright eyes, she was like a queen among the group. But when his eyes landed on Victoire, there was no comparison. Compared to the queen, Victoire's features were softer, kinder, more trustworthy. He would have picked her over the brunette goddess any day. Flipping over the picture, Teddy read the note scribbled on the back.

_Belle, Victoire, Fifi and Clarisse on the day of the wedding. _

He wondered briefly what they were like, these girls that Victoire seemed to have bonded with that he had never met. They all seemed so severe compared to his best friend. He worried for her. He didn't want them to change her. Didn't want her to come back speaking french and wearing short skirts everytime they went out.

"She seems changed." Jensen mused, looking at a picture of Victoire and the brunette goddess with a certain wonder.

"She's the same girl." Teddy said almost sharply. Sean raised an eyebrow but Clyde just laughed. "Ted's just worried she'll come back and have forgotten how to play Quiddich." he joked.

"Victoire Weasley forget how to play Quiddich?" Jensen grinned. "Hogwarts would fall."

The days passed in long hours once again. Sean, Clyde and Jensen made plans to stay another week at the Burrow to wait for Marcy and Ginger to arrive the week Victoire got back. By the time that day rolled around everyone was going on about how short it had seemed since they'd left. It appeared Teddy was the only one who'd counted the minutes.

They were due back at the burrow by that afternoon, 4 at the latest, so the group of friends decided they had time that morning for another game of Quiddich. Marcy and Ginger had arrived the previous day and were delighted to be back with their friends once again. The first thing Teddy noticed about the girls was their attire. He was so used to seeing them in their Hogwarts uniforms that he was slightly taken aback with Marcy's plaid capris and tee shirt, and especially shocked by Ginger's short shorts and her halter top with the Tutshill Tornadoes emblem- Sean's favorite team, stamped widely across the chest. Sean also seemed to be having trouble with this change of persona because his focus had severely changed from Quiddich to staring at Ginger's new choice of clothes. The boys were currently playing a three on three match of Quiddich which was being played rather evenly considering Ginger on one team was a bit of a rubbish player, and Sean on the other couldn't hold the quaffle without getting distracted.

"Pass it here!" Jensen laughed, watching Ginger struggle to throw the quaffle. It didn't move more then a foot before it dropped like a weight and was caught several feet under by Clyde who chucked it through the ring with ease.

"Impressed yet?" he asked Marcy who had been made victim of Clyde's ego.

"It'll take a lot more then a wimpy goal to make an impression on me." she grinned cockily, flying toward the ground to land. The others followed her, swinging their feet off their brooms as they hit the earth and slinging them over their shoulders. The sun was high in the sky and it was almost as hot as the day Victoire's letter had arrived.

"I can't wait until Toire gets back." Teddy mused, taking in Sean as he attempted to help Ginger with her broom, much to her delight. "Might get an actually challenging Quiddich match in before summer ends."

Suddenly he felt two hands cover his eyes from behind and the faint smell of lavender and sandalwood drifted forward.

"Guess who."

He spun around and a grin broke out over his face.

Victoire was dressed like she's been in the first photo he'd seen; yellow sundress, short sleeves, tanner skin then before... Her hair was loose like in the photo as well and her freckles stood out more then ever, scattering her chest and the bridge of her nose. She smiled at him, that same smile he'd missed seeing in person for weeks on end. "Miss me?"

Without thinking, he reached out and pulled her forwards. She let out a breath of surprise, but as soon as his arms slid around her in that familiar position, he knew everything was going to be fine. She hugged him back, her arms wrapping around his neck, having to stand on her tip toes to reach him. She was so warm, so solid, finally there. He let out a laugh and pulled away quick, his hands on her freckled shoulders holding her steady so he could look at her again. She beamed and they heard voices of exclamation as the other friends noticed her arrival.

"You have no idea." he grinned, noticing that she had brought her broom. Even without him around to remind her, they still had the same mind frame. As the rest of their friends embraced Victoire, Teddy couldn't help but laugh.

"Arrg Toire you're the best!"

Ginger had just unwrapped the gift Victoire had brought back from France for her. A red flowing summer dress that tied around the neck. She held it up and grinned, spinning around.

"You're lucky I know your size." Toire smiled. It was the next day and the girls were outside dining on pumpkin cakes and lemonade while they riffled through boxes of things Victoire had brought back from her vacation. The girls had already seen the photos that had been sent over, but now they had Toire to tell them the full details. She had been full of information, informing them about tips and tricks Fifi had passed along all while she painted her toenails an electric blue. The boys had gone into Ottery St. Catchpole to pick up a few things for dinner, leaving the girls behind to finally catch up on their own.

"It was brilliant." Victoire beamed for what must have been the hundredth time. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Well, maybe not _too _soon or you may give a certain someone a heart _attack_." Ginger grinned while Marcy snickered into her drink. A confused frown creased over Victoire's forehead and Ginger let out an exasperated groan. "Oh _come on_ Toire! I thought this Fifi girl taught you something!"

"What, you mean _Teddy_ might have a heart attack?"

"_Yes!_" the girls said together in unison while Victoire flinched back and laughed.

"Did he honestly miss me?" she asked, a semi-smug grin crossing her face. She had applied the light amount of makeup Fifi had recommended for her skin tone and was pleased to find it wasn't heavy or too thick on her face. Thanks to her Veela genes, she would always have perfect skin, but the touch of eyeliner and lip balm she'd out on added a pleasant colour to her normally pale face.

"Won't stop talking about you pretty much." Ginger said, rolling her eyes. "And we've barely even been here a week!"

"Clyde looked like he was about to shoot himself when we got here he'd heard so much about it." Marcy laughed.

"Well maybe he'll settle down." Victoire shrugged. "But I just can't see he going on about something like that..."

All of a sudden, summer picked back up again. The days passed faster and faster, each one full of new adventures. Quiddich matches were held daily, family tournaments organized and won, hills trekked and new places found. The friends were happy to finally be together in an atmosphere that wasn't constantly stressing them with school. They could be themselves around each other without getting too paranoid of being judged to poked fun at. There was no Max Northwick or Trinity Warrington to bring them down. There was just the seven of them, and the Burrow.

It was the last week of summer and the friends had gone home. The Burrow was surprisingly quiet for a summer afternoon and Victoire and Teddy were in the front yard, sitting in the grass and watching two gnomes compete over a rotten potato they'd found behind the chicken coop.

"Two sickles on the fat headed one." Teddy observed, watching as one of the gnomes kicked out at the other, hitting it square in the shin.

"They're both fat headed." Victoire said, squinting to get a better look. "You mean the one with the lumpy ear."

"Yeah, that one."

"You're on." she smirked. They watched the two fight harder until the one without the lumpy ear pulled back a fist and sent a right hook into the other's eye, knocking it unconscious.

"Pay up." Victoire smirked, holding out a hand for the money as the winning gnome did a brief sort of victory dance before running off with it's prize. Teddy pouted. "I haven't got it on me _now_." he grinned.

"That's what you _always _say." she grinned back, whacking him in the arm.

Suddenly, they heard a loud screech from up above. The pair started and turned towards the sound just in time to see a large great horned owl come swooping down, just narrowly missing Teddy's head.

"Merlin!" he spat, along with a short stream of other words, his hair getting brighter in alarm as the owl landed directly in front of Victoire and stuck out it's leg.

"Who's that from?" Teddy asked, running a hand through his teal hair, willing it to return to it's natural shade.

"I don't know." Toire replied, untying the letter from the bird's leg. "I don't recognize the owl."

She pulled the piece of string off the note and, uncurling it, began to read aloud.

_Dear Victoire, _

_My name's Kye Bolton. I go to Hogwarts, and am actually in your house as a fellow Ravenclaw. I'm a year older, but maybe you've seen me around? I'm writing to you because of my friend Dan. He told me I had to contact you for the reason you'll find out about in a second. Actually, I think you already know him. He was captain of the Ravenclaw Quiddich team last year, and tried to enter the Tri-Wizard Tourney and all that. Anyway, I was on the Ravenclaw team last year with Dan, (I play beater, in case you were wondering), and he told me when we started that year that over the summer he'd seen this girl who was a wonder with a snitch. He'd invited her to join the team, but because of Tri-Wizard, the season didn't end up going ahead. _

_Anyway, as we both know, that was Dan's last year. He's told me in advance however, that he's decided to make me the new captain! On the one condition that I do him a favor. Get Victoire Weasley on my team as seeker. _

_Now Victoire. I've seen you around. You're a good looking girl. But I've never seen you play before and I can't just automatically make you seeker based on your looks. On the other hand, I trust Dan completely because he really fucking loves Quiddch (pardon my language) and knows his stuff pretty well as I like to think. So please, please come and try out. Because our seeker graduated last year as well, and I don't really know about anyone who'd be good at it other then you, apparently. I know it would be what Dan wanted, and right about now I can pretty much guarantee you the position, because let's face it. I'm losing my balls over all the stress of this and if we could just win house cup it would mean a lot and it would look great when I try out for Puddlemore United next year._

_Hope you'll join,_

_Cheers,_

_ Kye Bolton. _

Victoire stopped reading and stared at the letter for a moment. Teddy was silent beside her, waiting for her to speak. Finally she looked away.

"Well?" Teddy asked, his face neutral. For the first time that summer, she had absolutely no clue what he was thinking.

"What do you think?" she asked, biting her lip nervously. He swallowed.

"I think they'd have to have brains made of shit not to take you. That all depends on if you want to do it or not." he said. They watched each other for a moment. He raised an eyebrow and finally her face split into a grin.

"Oh why the hell not!" she exclaimed, laughing. His serious face broke and he wore a similar expression, his eye brightening. "It'll be brilliant!" she beamed.

"Yeah, brilliant when we snatch the house cup out from under you Ravenclaws." Teddy smirked, getting up and brushing off his jeans which rode low enough on his hips that she could see a sliver of skin between them and his shirt. She dropped her gaze from it quickly and snorted. "Cocky aren't we? Let's not forget who's team won in the annual Weasley Quiddich match this year." she said, joining him as they walked towards the house.

"That was _not_ because of you! You had Harry _and _Charlie on your team!"

"Oh tomato to_ma_to, you're just jealous I won the trophy and you didn't." she laughed, skipping ahead.

"The _'trophy_' was one of Hagrid's old wooden wine goblets that Ginny had painted a W on to!" he yelled after her as she ran ahead.

"Ah, but it's _my _wooden wine goblet with a painted on W!" she called back just as she disappeared inside the house, her laughter echoing throughout the yard, leaving Teddy to chase in after her.

The following morning, the kitchen of the Burrow was jam packed with people. Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and Hermione crowded round the stove while children pushed and shoved each other out of the way to get seats at the ever growing table. Eight year old Lily sat on a pile of old muggle phonebooks stacked one on top of the other so she could reach the table, while Albus and James fought over the plate of bacon. Dominique, Molly, Fred and Roxanne had all stationed themselves around the window, Dominique and Roxy positioned on the window seat while the other two sat across from them and picked at their eggs. Lucy chatted animatedly with her mother as Rose and Hugo sat at the end of the table, consumed in a game of wizard chess they had balancing on a saucer. Teddy and Victoire looked like giants among the crowd of smaller children, with the exception of Molly, who at fourteen had gotten a burst of a growth spurt over the summer, shooting her up to her mother's height.

Victoire cut off another slab of her omelet and reached across the table to dunk it in the chunk of salsa Teddy had dolloped onto his plate.

"Hey." he objected weakly, not seeming to mind too much that she was hijacking his food.

"Oh hush, you've got too much anyway."

"_Oh hush._" Dominique immitated from across the room, snickering.

"Watch it you, or I'll jinx your nose right off." Victoire said sharply, ignoring the faint blush that came to her cheeks as she threw a grape off her plate at her sister. She turned back to Teddy. "Hey!" she exclaimed, watching him laugh as he took a huge gulp from her glass of orange juice.

"What? I thought we were sharing!" he grinned as she snatched it back and finished off the drink, using the other end of the glass. She gave him a half joking glare and he returned it with a look of pure innocence, even batting his eyelashes so that she had to give in with a fit of giggles.

"OWLS!"

The whole kitchen jumped at the sound, everyone turning to the source. It had come from Fred, who was on his feet and jumping up and down while pointing out the window. "Look! Look! Owls!"

The children scrambled for a sight, all twelve faces pressed together around the window to get a sight. Sure enough, off in the distance Victoire caught sight of eight large owls, each of them carrying what looked to be an envelope. She felt her heart drop suddenly into her stomach.

"My O.W.L.s!" she gasped, her mind racing back to the series of exams she'd been forced to take the year prior. She'd tried her hardest to forget about them but now that her results were mere feet away, everything came flooding back.

"Into the yard! Into the yard! We can't all be in year along with eight owls, it'll be havok!" Mrs. Weasley cried, ushering her grandchildren out of the house with the speed of someone who'd experienced this ritual dozens of times before. With a bang and a crash, the children were off. Everyone scrambling out of the kitchen, tripping this way and that over each other as they rushed out in a swarm to the front yard. A group of gnomes were taken off guard suddenly and fled shrieking into the bushes while the children too young to go to Hogwarts jumped up and down excitedly.

With the grace only a true Hogwarts owl could maintain, each one of the birds soared over to their desired recipients. Victoire held out her arm as a creme coloured eagle owl landing on it and let her untie the envelope. She saw the Hogwarts seal instantly, and her heart started pounding.

Meanwhile, the others were eagerly ripping open their Hogwarts letters all except for James who's letter had been snatched up by his mother.

"It's your first year!" she exclaimed to him as his lower lip trembled. "Wait until your father gets home. He'll want to be here to see you open it."

Victoire's attention returned quickly to her letter as she headed back into the house, followed once again by the swarm of her cousins.

She pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and laid the envelope out in front of her. It was thicker then the past years, probably because of all it's contents.

"Open it." Lily cried, bouncing up and down beside her as she was joined by Rose and Albus.

"Okay." she said, and grabbed for the package. Ripping the top off in one clean motion, she pulled out her results and began to read.

**Astronomy- Madame Sinistra: Exceeds Expectations**

**Charms- Professor Flitwick: Outstanding**

**Defence Against the Dark Arts- Professor Darragh: Exceeds Expectations**

**Herbology- Professor Longbottom: Exceeds Expectations**

**History of Magic- Professor Binns: Acceptable**

**Muggle Studies- Professor Lilsdale: Outstanding**

**Potions- Professor Slughorn: Outstanding**

**Transfiguration- Professor Carnlee: Outstanding**

She laid down the papers and let out a long sigh of relief. As if to please her even more, her gleaming Prefect badge slid out of the envelope, informing her she had been re-elected to perform prefect duties that year. Everything was as it should be. She had no failing grades, and so what if she had an Acceptable in History of Magic? Nobody counted that class anyway. She was passing! She was prefect!

Looking across the room, her eyes searched for Teddy. She found him on the opposite end, staring open mouthed at something he held in his hand. She squinted her eyes to get a closer look and soon her face did the same.

Teddy was holding the gold badge Victoire had come to know represented Quiddich Captain.

Slowly, Teddy's eyes turned upward to face Victoire's. He wore what she swore was the smuggest, cockiest grin she had ever seen in her whole life. She knew what that face meant.

If she was going to join the team this year, she'd better be ready to bring it.

**Hellooo everyone! So, ready for the final chunk? They're going back to Hogwarts, and there'll be no mercy with Quiddich between these two I can guarantee that. Also, what kind of privileges will come with Teddy being Quiddich captain? You'll have to wait to find outttt!**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter, because I spend two hours writing it instead of studying for my history exam tomorrow. I CARE ABOUT YOU MORE THEN THE GREAT DEPRESSION YOU GUYS. YOU ARE MY LIFE NOW. **

**If you follow my other story you'll know that I'm on hiatus from it so I can finish this one faster! So hopefully I'll get off my ass and get down to business. **

**And finally, I want to thank you all for getting me to 99 reviews! I couldn't have done it without you (obviously) so thank you guys so much. I read them all and adore everyone one of them. **

**As for those of you telling me to hurry the fuck up and get Ted and Vic together already, I KNOW I'M SORRY I'M JUST FOLLOWING MY PLOT FLOW PLEASE FORGIVE ME! If you want give me a HP pairing and I'll write you up a sexy one-shot or something. Or you could just check out my other fic which is nearing M rated goodness. **

**Anyways, hope you liked the chapter. Hogwarts next! Hoorah!**

**xx,**

**Calla Wright**


	27. The Third Potter

The Hogwarts express seemed even more packed then usual that September morning. The hustle of students on the platform kept families tight knit and cramped while they gave their goodbyes. Victoire spotted Harry and Ginny standing over with James, who looked as nervous as she had been on her first day. Ginny's eyes were red and puffy and even Harry looked torn to watch his eldest go off to school. Victoire turned back to the path before her. She was on the steps of the train, hanging off the edge to catch a final glimpse of her parents. Her bags were already in the compartment she'd picked out with her friends, and Vesper was put away safely in his cage. This was going to be Teddy's final year at Hogwarts. That was the last thing she wanted to think about though. It was a beautiful day at King's Cross. Blue sky and not a cloud in sight. She would worry about what she would do next year without him later.

The train let out a loud whistle that called for final boarding just as she was about to take the last step up into the express, when she heard someone cry out for her from the platform. Her eyes immediately found the source. It was Louis, his tiny blond head lost in the crowd. A drop of fear entered her stomach as she noticed her parents were nowhere to be seen. Louis was crying, his eyes focused on his older sister, the only person he recognized. Practically everyone had already boarded the train, with a few last minute stragglers rushing past her to their rooms. There was still no sight of her family. Not giving it a second thought, she let go of the railing, stepping back off onto the platform just as the train gave out another whistle. Pushing waving parents aside, she rushed towards her brother, reaching out for him just as he did. She scooped him up into her arms and he clung to her like he had done so many times before over the course of the summer. She heard the train give a third and final toot before the wheels started to come to a slow move. Her heart clenched in panic as she looked around frantically, Louis still wiping the tears from his eyes.

"MAMAN!" she cried out over the crowd, ignoring the startled glances she was getting. "DAD!"

"Victoire!" someone shouted over the crowd. Past a few rows of heads, she could see Harry rushing towards them.

"Thank Merlin." she said, heaving a sigh or relief and pushing through the extra few people to her uncle. "He was lost." she said quickly, and then heard the full chug of the train as it started to leave the station. Harry reached out and took Louis from her before nodding hastily towards the train. "You'd better catch that. I'll get him to your parents. Hurry!"

With a final nod, she turned and ran through the crowd, her long hair flying behind her, her wand gripped firmly in her right hand. She couldn't remember drawing it but somehow it had gotten there, just as it always did when she felt stressed or in need of a bit of magic.

The gleaming scarlet steam engine was gaining speed and she knew that soon it would be hurtling it's way over the Scottish country side. If she didn't hurry, it would be going that way without her.

"Excuse me!" she said, fighting to get to the front of the crowd where stubborn parents refused to give her room. The train shifted into high gear and she felt another stab of panic.

"MOVE!" she shouted, shoving them aside and running along side the train. She didn't give thought to how much a fool she must have looked, just that she needed to get on that train before it left the station. She could see one of the steps ahead, the railing just out of her reach. If she could _just _get to it! She ran faster, her legs burning as her shoes padded along the platform, the train getting shorter and shorter behind her. She reached out her arm to grab hold when all of a sudden she felt the toe of her show catch on something and she stumbled, loosing all momentum.

"_Shit_!" she cried out, watching the step go further out of her reach. "Shit shit shit FUCK!"

She wasn't going to make it. There were only two cars left and she wasn't nearly fast enough on foot to grab hold even though she still ran to catch up. Her time was running out. She would have to stay behind. "_Fuck!" _she yelled, and just as the word escaped her mouth, she felt something strong grab her from behind as she was yanked towards the train. She gasped, and let out a scream as whatever had grabbed her wrapped around her waist and hoisted her up onto the narrow side platform just at the steam engine passed out of the station.

Gasping for breath, she clung to the thing that had just saved her. Warm and solid, part of it still wrapped around her waist, she suddenly recognized a certain smell. It smelled like home.

The shock was still there, but as the immediate edge wore off she realized that what she was clinging to was someone's chest, and that there were two arms wrapped strongly around her waist. Someone had reached down and plucked her off the platform, as if she were as light as a feather. She let her breathing steady lightly as she pressed her face deeper into her savior's body, taking large breaths to calm herself. She could hear the loud whipping of the wind to their left and felt the goosebumps on her skin from the cold air that blew in from the opening. Finally, she allowed herself to look up at the boy she clung to, just to see that he was already looking down at her.

"Cutting it a little close there, aren't we?" Teddy chuckled, reaching out absentmindedly to stroke her hair back. His smile was huge and showed he was clearly very proud of himself for playing the knight in this situation. She would normally have given him a sarcastic quip, but at that moment she was still too stunned by the amazing feat they had just accomplished, so she simply said thanks by wrapping her arms around his chest and holding him tighter.

"You're lucky I noticed you were missing." he smiled as they made their way back to their compartment. "I might not have been there to save your arse."

"I'm never going to hear the end of this arm I?" she grumbled, having finally collected herself as she walked past him into their room. Several heads turned at their arrival.

"Thank Merlin." Sean huffed, crossing his arms. "These two have turned our compartment into a honeymoon suite." he said, nodding across the room to Marcy and Clyde who laughed just as Clyde stole another kiss from his girlfriend.

"Where were you two?" Ginger asked, raising an eyebrow at their rumpled hair and clothes that had been disturbed by the winds outside the train.

"Oh, just hanging back." Teddy said brightly while Victoire scowled at him. "Victoire decided she wanted to _catch up_."

"Sod off." she grumbled, aiming a kick at him and missing as he dodged it, falling into his seat beside Clyde and laughing. "You're being a bit too cocky for my taste." she snubbed.

"Oh? Trouble on love island?" Clyde asked mockingly. In an instant, Victoire paled and then felt a deep blush climb up her face. Teddy's head spun to shoot Clyde one of the dirtiest looks she'd ever seen him wear and an awkward silence fell briefly over the cabin.

"He was talking to me." Marcy jumped in hastily, trying to save the moment. "I... um... forgot to..." she trailed off, not having any clue what to say as Victoire considered briefly erasing the memories of everyone in the room and getting it over with, when there came a knock on the door. Desperate for a distraction, Jensen practically lunged from his seat to answer it, pulling aside the glass door to reveal Olivia Blunt, dressed in dark jeans and a t shirt, her short black hair having grown out slightly over the summer; the ends of it tickling her chin.

"Hello!" Jensen said loudly, almost too obvious to showing his relief at a subject change.

"Hi." Olivia replied, slightly taken aback by the enthusiasm. She glanced around the cabin at all the painfully wide grins she was receiving and looked even more startled. "Er... is now a good time?" she asked, taking a step backwards as if regretting her decision to visit, but Jensen stepped aside to let her through.

"Not at all! Perfect actually!" he exclaimed, smiling so widely that he slightly resembled a fox who had just wandered into a hen house.

"Oh." she said, still hesitant as she walked into the room. "Well that's good, I guess. Just came to say hi." she said, taking a seat to Teddy's left and flashing him a smile which he returned a little too unconvincingly.

"Saved by the Slytherin..." Ginger muttered, not unkindly as she leaned forward and struck up a conversation with their green wearing friend. Victoire couldn't help but feel Teddy's eyes on her though, as she desperately tried to avoid them for the next little while of their trip.

Olivia didn't stay long, but managed to do the trick of turning the awkward mood into some completely different. They were talking about Quiddich. Olivia had just complimented Jensen on a move he'd made in their final game the previous year, when Marcy spoke up.

"Oh, we forgot to tell you." she smiled. "Teddy got picked as Quiddich captain this year!"

Something changed on Olivia's face as she turned to Teddy. "Wow." she smiled. "Congrats."

"Thanks. It'll be interesting getting us somewhere without Jolsbee and Netwarth though." He commented. "It's going to be hell to find a new keeper."

"Yeah." she agreed. "So I take it you haven't heard about Max then."

Victoire's stomach tightened at the mention of her ex's name and she immediately saw a muscle in Teddy's jaw twitch. Clyde's eyes flicked to Teddy in caution, but Marcy was the one to speak up.

"What about him?"

Olivia glanced around the room once, hesitant to reveal what she knew. Outside the window, the ground rushed by in a blur.

"He was picked captain also." she said dryly.

From across the room, Victoire heard Teddy exhale and lean back in his seat. She knew what this meant just as much as he did. With Max as captain, he would go to extreme lengths to make sure he beat Gryffindor. They all knew how much winning the Quiddich cup would mean to him, and how furious he would be if they lost it again. A silence hung eerily over the compartement, but surprisingly it was Victoire who spoke up first.

"All the better when they lose, then." she said, finally letting Teddy meet her eyes. She smiled at him and he returned the grin graciously, looking as if a great weight had been lifted off his chest.

"I just hope he gets what he deserves." Olivia nodded, leaning back as she also sensed the lift of mood.

"Toire was thinking of trying out for Ravenclaw." Teddy noted, catching her gaze. "Got a letter from the captain and everything."

"She'd be great." Jensen added, looking at Toire approvingly. Olivia stayed silent though, and Victoire looked to her for an opinion only to see a doubtful expression on her face.

"What?" she asked, frowning slightly. She had expected her friend to be happy for her. This wasn't the look she was expecting.

"Well..." Olivia trailed off, turning to Victoire. "You know what people would say."

Victoire continued to look confused, but from across the room Ginger let out a "hmm" of agreement.

"I hadn't thought of that." she commented.

"Thought of what?" Victoire asked, looking from girl to girl. The boys wore the same expression of confusion, but Marcy seemed to be in on the joke. "What are you thinking?"

"You know how people talk, Toire." Marcy said softly, attempting to soften the blow that was coming. "Gossips and such." she added.

"Yeah, and?" she asked, waiting for a explanation.

"People are going to insult you." Olivia said bluntly. For a moment all they could hear was the muted wind rushing outside the train before she continued. "It's stupid, but because of your relationship with Max and Teddy, people are going to talk. Even if you weren't trying out, the fact that they're both Quiddich captains of rival houses is going to cause quite a stir." she explained. "Trinity is going to have a field day." she added as the smug face of Trinity Warrington flashed through Toire's head. She could feel her friends watching her as she took in the information.

"So basically, people are going to call me a whore." she stated, her tone flat.

"Of course not Toire-" Marcy jumped in, but was interrupted by Olivia.

"Yes." she said, her expression grim. "But the upside is," she said, glancing around at the others. "We'll be here to stand by you. You're well liked at the school. And you've got friends in high places." As if to prove her point, she gave her friend a genuine smile. "In the end, you'll come out on top."

The next knock at their door came with half an hour left of the trip. Olivia had left long ago, and the group of friends were spread out around the compartment, feasting on pumpkin pasties and chocolate frogs. Sean and Ginger had a pile of the cards stacked up beside each of them and were swapping decks, while Jensen, Teddy and Victoire sampled different Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans. Clyde and Marcy were laid out across one of the seats together, Marcy fast asleep beside Clyde, her head resting on his chest as he stroked her hair and looked out the window at the mountains that flew by. The rap came sharply on the glass and the friends glanced up at the glass door, Marcy stirring from her sleep. Behind the glass was a girl Victoire recognized from her prefect duties at the school. Natalie Duggard, a Hufflepuff in her year, opened the door and smiled at the group.

"Hey Toire, I just came to get you for duties. We're gonna be at the station in a few minutes."

"Oh." Victoire said, remembering her job of helping students make their way into the school. "Right. I'll be there in a minute." she said, as Natalie disappeared back into the hall.

She stood up from the floor and grabbed her robes off the shelf. "Save a spot for me at our table." she said to Ginger, before turning to Teddy. He had stood with her, and when her eyes fell on him, he made move as to get his own robes from their position.

"Keep an eye out for James, will you?" she asked him, watching him run a hand through his hair just as he grabbed his robes.

"He's not the only one I need to keep an eye out for, apparently." he joked, referring to earlier. She shook her head at him, rolling her eyes and turned to leave. Just as her hand was on the handle, she hesitated. Turning back quickly, she reached out and touched his shoulder to get his attention. Their other friends were busy getting their robes out of their trunks, so no one was watching them. He was looking at her expectantly as she took a step towards him. His expression changed to one of surprise as she leaned in and whispered so only he could hear.

"Thank you." she said, her lips close to his ear. "For saving me." She pulled away but when she saw his expression, caught herself. Their faces were only a few inches apart and she could feel his breath warm on her skin, his eyes bright with something she'd never seen before.

"I'll always be there." he said softly, reaching up to brush a strand of hair out of her face, his fingertips grazing her cheek.

"I know." she said, and even though it killed her to do so, she dropped her eyes, breaking the connection, and left quickly through the door out into the slowly crowding hall.

Teddy took his seat at the Gryffindor table between Sean and Clyde, his eyes roaming the room for any sign of Toire. His heart was still beating from before in the train. Why she had chosen to speak to him like that was beyond him, but it had made him want her more than anything. He'd had to practically speak to himself to get his body to do what he wanted, he was still so numb from her presence. His fingers still burned from where he'd touched her skin, and he wanted more then anything to do it again.

He was distracted from his thoughts though, when the door towards the back of the hall opened and he watched Professor Nottwood walk in holding a stood which the ever aging sorting hat sat upon. A trail of first years walking hesitantly behind her, all of them wide eyed and nervous as they glanced around the Great Hall. Teddy tried to think back to a time when he had been without a Hogwarts house, but not many strong memories came to him. Instead he focused on the line, his eyes finally finding James. Tall for his age, he stood out among the group with his jet black hair and chocolate eyes that were the mirror image of Ginny's. Just like Teddy and Victoire, he was the first returning child of his name. The first Potter to be sorted ever since his father. Ever since the war.

Nottwood was at the front of the room now, the hat placed upon the stool, and she was holding a great scroll which seemed longer then usual. The hall watched expectantly as the wide rip in the sorting hat's brim opened, and it sang it's house song for all to hear. Afterwards the room exploded into applause, several of the students including Teddy and his friends, thumping their fists on the table in approval. McGonagall had to rise from her chair to get the hall to quiet down so Professor Nottwood could continue with the sorting.

"When I call your name, you will come up, put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." she announced in her loud oxford accent for all to hear.

"Akkerblom, Carrie!" she called, as a petite blond girl covered in freckles made her way up shakily to the stood. The hat fell down to around her ears as she quivered at what it had to say. After a moment of consideration, the rip in the brim opened again.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted loudly, as Teddy and his friends whooped for the young girl who scurried over to their table to find a seat a few people down from Marcy.

The sorting continued throughout the evening, the rush of having new students in your house keeping everyone entertained. Teddy didn't see Victoire until "Dutton, Melanie" was sorted into Ravenclaw. Victoire cheered with the rest of her house as the girl slid into the seat next to her. He watched Victoire say something to the girl over the cheers that made her smile, and he couldn't help but grin to himself as he brought his attention back up to the hat.

The minutes past and it wasn't until a hush fell over the crowd that Teddy looked up to see Nottwood read the next name on the paper.

"Potter, James!"

When she read that name, something in the room seemed to change. Students fell quiet and leaned forward in their seats to see the son of the legend, another Potter, rise again. James stepped out towards the front of the room, his dark hair covering his eyes from view, something Teddy knew he did when he was nervous. Teddy caught sight of McGonagall, her eyes watching James make his way to the stool, bright with memories as she witnessed her third generation of Potters enter their sorting.

Nottwood placed the hat on James' head with a sort of flourish, and they all sat back to watch.

James' face remained serious throughout the sorting all except for the end when Teddy noticed him flinch at something the hat had said. They didn't have to wait long for it's decision though. The rip opened wide and with a cry louder then any of the others that had been heard that night, it shouted:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Teddy's table erupted into cheers as every last Gryffindor in the hall stood up to welcome James Potter. James, a glowing smile on his face, removed the hat and rushed off the stool to where Teddy was waiting for him.

"I did it!" he cried over the shouts of the crowd.

"Welcome home!" Teddy laughed, ruffling the hair of the boy who was practically his brother.

"We got Potter! We got Potter!" Clyde and Sean were singing, dancing round the table merrily, and soon all of the Gryffindors were singing the chant. "WE GOT POTTER! WE GOT POTTER!"

Teddy whirled round to see Victoire beaming at her table, laughter behind her eyes as she watched her friends and family celebrate. Up at the head table, Professor McGonagall was wiping tears from her eyes, her smile still visible behind her hand as she tried to hide it.

It was the first week into the new year and Victoire was about to make her way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Stopping briefly in front of the mirror in her dorm room, she fixed her tie before slipping on her robes and running her fingers through her hair to make it right. She'd told Ginger and Marcy to go ahead and save her a spot at the Gryffindor table. Closing the door to their dorm behind her, she made her way down the spiral staircase and through the common room. Taking the route to the hall, she thought back to the past week. It was all sort of a blur- new schedules, loads of homework and late nights in the Gryffindor common room. She was a regular there now, the students used to seeing her and Ginger in the plush armchairs by the fire as they talked and laughed with the others. Besides, no one was going to object when they hung out with Teddy. He had practically become the most well known person in the school, and in his final year at Hogwarts on top of being Quiddich captain, one of the most popular.

She had reached the huge oak doors that led into the Great Hall and stopped for a moment, looking round for her friends. She caught sight of Teddy's bright teal hair and watched him turn to see her as she came in. He waved and she waved back, lost in the moment of real happiness. She took a step towards the table when suddenly-

"Victoire Weasley!"

She felt a hand come down on her shoulder from behind and she turned at the contact. There in plain view stood a boy she had only spoken to a few times, but had seen in her common room many. A broad build for a body and dark gold hair that curled down to the nape of his neck, he flashed her a smile, reveling a chipped front tooth and a very eager expression.

"Kye Bolton." she said, slightly taken aback by his directness. His hand was still on her shoulder, and she made a point to move slightly so it fell off.

"So you _do _recognize me!" he said, crossing his arms unnecessarily. She noticed his biceps flex in a way that couldn't have been natural. "Good to know. How are you?" he asked, his brown eyes glinting.

"I'm fine thanks." she said, her confusion being slowly replaced with faint amusement. "And you?"

"Oh, I'm cheery!" he beamed. "Really excited to get to work with the team this year. Got big plans!" he said, standing there. A moment of silence passed between then, and Victoire cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Oh, right!" he said, as if just remembering what he had called her out for. "Quiddich! I've booked the pitch for tryouts this Friday after classes, I hope that's alright with you."

"Why wouldn't it be alright with me?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow bemusedly.

"Well, I just need to know when you're free to show me what you've got." he said, winking. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Teddy watching them intently. "You know, so I can make sure you're right for me."

Victoire raised both eyebrows now.

"You mean the team." she corrected him and his grin grew wider. "Right, right." he said, taking a step back. "The team. Anyways, sign up sheet's in the common room and tryouts start at four. See you there!" he called, retreating back to the Ravenclaw table where his friends were guffawing at his expression. Casting him a final glance of amusement, she turned back to her table, finally settling herself in between Teddy and Marcy.

"Who was that?" Teddy asked, a frown creased between his eyes as he turned to get a look at the guy.

"_That_ was Kye Bolton. You've versed him in every Ravenclaw match you've ever played, remember?" she said, rolling her eyes while spreading jam on her toast.

"Oh yeah..." he said, still watching Kye like a hawk as he took a drink of his orange juice. "What did he want?"

"To hit on me and invite me to try out for the team Friday." she noted dully, just as Teddy choked on the drink, covering his mouth with his hand. She snickered into her toast as he recovered, watching her. She waited for him to comment on why he had been hitting on her, and she already had a witty remark ready to answer him with. He opened his mouth.

"He's holding Quiddich tryouts this Friday!" he exclaimed, staring at Toire wide eyed.

Her smile automatically disappeared and Marcy's head whipped around at Teddy. Victoire turned to look at her friend. "_Boys."_ she said, exasperated.

"What?" Teddy asked as Toire huffed into her meal and took a bite out of it rather violently. "_What?"_

"If you don't understand, they won't bother to explain it mate." Clyde called from Marcy's right. "You're better off to stick to Quiddich."

"_Women..._" he mumbled into his drink and then spilt it once again as Victoire whacked his arm, shaking the cup.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, giving her a look of shock. She glared at him for a moment and he returned the expression. They stayed like that for nearly a minute until Victoire's glare cracked and the two of them broke into laughter. Marcy rolled her eyes to Clyde and the couple went on eating as the best friends beside them roared with new found laughter. Once finally recovered, Teddy ran a hand through his hair, beaming.

"So you think I should book the field for tryouts too, or what?"

"_Teddy!"_

**Bit of a shorter chapter here, but I'm on a roll so there's more to come soon! Cheers!**

**-Cal**


	28. Tryouts

Victoire trudged across the grass, her trainers making prints in the mud. She wore her usual Quiddich attire; long jeans and a hoodie pulled over her grey swoop neck t shirt. It was nearly four and she had just gotten out of transfiguration half an hour ago. She'd made time to go back to her common room to change into proper attire before grabbing her broom and heading out the door into the hall. She hadn't mentioned the tryouts and had sort of hoped that her friends would have forgotten so that she could get it over with in peace. But as she opened the door of the common room, she caught sight of Teddy coming up the stairs of the tower. He stopped when he saw her and smiled, raising his hand in a wave. She walked towards him, her broom swung over her shoulder.

"Hey." he greeted, turning round to walk her down the stairs. "You off to tryouts?"

"Yep." she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets, continuing to walk with her. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, waiting for him to speak. When he didn't, she broke the silence.

"Where are you going?" she asked as he turned to look at her.

"I'm coming with you." he said simply. She stopped in her tracks, watching him walk a few more steps before he noticed. "What?" he asked, a smile playing at his mouth.

"Teddy, you can't come. You know that." she said sternly, sliding the broom off her shoulder so she could cross her arms without it getting in the way. He continued to smile at her, a grin she found almost frustrating.

"Why not?" he asked, mimicking her crossed arms as if to mock her.

"Same reason no Ravenclaws are allowed at your tryouts on Sunday. _Spying_."

He rolled his eyes at this and turned to walk ahead of her, not replying.

"Hey!" she called, grabbing her broom and chasing after him. "I mean it Teddy, they're not going to let you on the pitch. Even if you just want to watch, Bolton's still going to think it's for strategic purposes or something."

"You know I haven't got a strategic bone in my body." he said, continuing to walk with the confidence she only dreamed she could muster.

"I can think of a few..." she muttered as he let out a laugh. "Turn back now Teddy. They'll see you from a mile away."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong." he grinned, ducking into an alcove and pulling her with him. "Hey! What are you-"

"Shhh!" he whispered, reaching into his bag and pulling out an object she recognized all too well. "Oh, Teddy." she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Aren't you getting too big for that thing yet?" she asked as he slid on the invisibility cloak, a triumphant grin stretching over his face as it floated above his body, now concealed by the cloak. Tucked away in the alcove, the only light that streamed through was that from the high window above them. Most students had returned to their dormitories or gone off to do other activities. There was a very slim chance of anyone overhearing them. "Harry, Ron _and _Hermione all used to be able to fit under this thing when they were your age." Teddy noted, his floating head wobbling eerily. "This way I'll be able to watch you try and, you know, maybe take a few notes on Bolton's players." he shrugged nonchalantly.

"That's cheating." she said, nailing him with a look that reminded him all too much of ones Ginny and Mrs. Weasley had shot him in the past whenever he had been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.

"You sound like Hermione." he grumbled, shifting from foot to foot under the cloak. "Fine. No note taking. But I still want to come."

"You're acting like a child..." she noted, but as she turned away and didn't object he let out a laugh of victory. Slipping on the hood, he ran up beside her and followed her out into the grounds.

"There's the pitch." Teddy said a few moments later as they rounded the castle and saw the Quiddich rings off in the distance. Even from this distance they could see a crowd of students huddled on the field along with several of them in the air. One shadow in particular took a surprisingly good shot at the rings, the ball soaring straight past the keeper and beyond.

"There's so many of them..." Victoire mused out loud, finally feeling a sliver of nerves.

"Yeah, but how many of them were _invited _to try out?" Teddy asked rhetorically. "When I made the team, half the people there looked like they'd never seen a broom before, let alone know how to ride one."

"Shhh, people are going to think I'm crazy if I keep talking to you like this." she said as they got closer to the pitch. "Look, there's Bolton."

Sure enough, Kye Bolton was up in the air, calling hopefuls up to have their go at their position. Currently, he was working on the Chasers.

"There she is!" he called from the air, as several heads turned to look at Victoire as she approached. She flushed slightly as Kye descended to greet her. "Cheers there Weasley!" he said, walking up to her and patting her on the shoulder again. Even though he was invisible, she could still feel Teddy tense beside her. "You're a bit late, but it's no matter." Kye stated, nodding up towards a group of fliers who were doing laps around the stadium. "I'm waiting to audition the seekers last. What do you think of this lot?" he asked her, nodding up to several chasers who were taking shots on the auditioning keepers. "I thought I'd audition them at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone, if you know what I mean." he winked at her.

"Lazy..." Teddy muttered beside her so only she could hear, but she still shifted over and stepped on his foot to remind him to shut up. Turning her attention back up to the chasers, she looked round for ones that stood out. There were several who were rubbish, that much was clear, not able to throw the quaffle more then a few feet, but there were others that she was surprised to see were quite good. She noticed a boy who looked to be about in his younger years who whipped the quaffle in through a ring with such force that she was surprised the momentum didn't knock him off his broom. He was the boy she'd seen from the distance.

"Who's that?" she asked Kye, pointing him out. Kye squinted against the sun at the boy before answering. "Mannix Fordor." he said. "He's a third year. Small for his age, isn't he?" he observed as Victoire continued to watch the wiry boy throw shot after shot through the hoops.

"He's good." she noted, drawing her attention over to the keepers. Most of them fumbled about on their brooms but a few managed to zip about, catching and rebounding to other chasers. A seventh year girl with long brown hair and an athletic build was rebounding shot after shot, a wild grin on her face as she fought off the balls.

"That's Ree Gorvitch." Kye added when Toire pointed out the girl. "I've known her for awhile but honestly I'm a bit surprised. She never showed any interest in Quiddich before this year."

In the end, Victoire stood by as Kye selected his team one after the other. He kept last year's beater, a muscular seventh year named Harrison Lee, to join him on the ranks. Victoire knew Harrison briefly, she had helped him with some muggle studies homework in the past years, but couldn't help pity the next year's captain who would have to find two brand new beaters once this year's had graduated. For chasers he picked up Mannix Fordor after much of Victoire's encouraging, as well as fifth year Alli Sekhon and returning fourth year, Nelly Welsh. For keeper, Victoire was more then pleased to see Ree Gorvitch join the team, waving triumphantly to her friends who cheered her on over in the bleachers. The currently chosen players headed over to the bleachers to watch the final audition, shaking hands and talking animatedly together.

"This is you." Teddy said from her right, nudging her. She glanced towards where Kye was standing with the remaining seeker hopefuls. "Right." she said, feeling her stomach clench in nerves.

"You'll get this." Teddy said, not an ounce of doubt in his voice. "Go for it."

She left him where he stood and trudged across the grass to where the group waited for her.

"Right." said Kye, clapping his hands together and staring around at the group. Victoire counted six people including himself, a fourth year, a fifth year, a sixth year and two seventh years, all of whom were eyeing their competitors intimidatingly. Toire recognized the sixth year as Liam Stebbins, a boy she had potions and charms with. He looked nervous, and she was interested to see how he would fly.

"There's an even number of you, so it's going to proceed like this." Kye said to the group. "You'll be paired up with someone and I'll release a snitch onto the field. The person who gets the best time out of all of you will snatch up the position of seeker."

Victoire could already see several flaws in this exercise, but decided not to voice them out loud. She knew that off to the side, Teddy would be thinking the same thing.

Kye proceeded to pair up the fourth and fifth year to each other as well as the two seventh years, leaving Victoire and Liam to stand awkwardly on the sidelines, waiting for their turn.

The fourth and fifth years took flight first after a minute's head start for the snitch. Finally they were off, soaring round the field, looking desperately for some form of golden glint that might give the snitch away.

_He should have other players on_, Victoire thought to herself. In the heat of the game, it was important to be able to search under pressure. This was nothing more then an easter egg hunt with charmed eggs to move around. It took nearly fifteen minutes for one of them to spot the snitch, which was hovering off behind the left end's goalposts. It was caught by the fifth year just moments ahead of the fourth, even though Victoire suspected it was because he had a faster broom. Next were the two seventh years, a boy and a girl, both of whom didn't seem to get along very well. The glared at each other the whole time they searched, but fortunately it only took them just over five minutes to spot the snitch with the lack of game to distract them. The girl hurtled towards the ball, her fingers stretching to grab it while the boy attempted to shove her off her broom. She caught the snitch, but swiftly fell twenty feet and lay sprawled on the earth for a few moments before raising the snitch in weak triumph above her head. Kye roared with laughter while she checked to see if everything was still unbroken.

"Alright Weasley." he smiled, turning to Victoire. "Let's see if Dan was right about you." He was smiling, but there was something about that grin that she didn't like. Feeling the eyes of the other hopefuls as well at the new team's on her back, she mounted her broom and waited the full minute before Kye would let them fly. With the final blast of his whistle, Victoire kicked the earth and the pair were off. She soared straight up, way past Liam who stopped at only thirty feet. Higher and higher she rose, feeling the September winds whipping at her face, the cold sneaking under her clothes and biting at her skin. Finally she stopped and made a full turn, looking down on the field. Her eyes checked both hoops first, as the snitch occasionally had a tendency to huddle by keepers, but when her eyes found nothing she let them roam free. Liam was below her, circling madly around the field for the snitch. She could see the tiny faces of those on the ground staring up at her as she hovered above the rest. The clouds stirred in the afternoon air and she felt a slight breeze hit her left side. That was when she saw it.

A ray of sun had broken through the clouds and caught a golden glint far off towards the stands on the left end of the pitch. Squinting slightly she could just make it out; a tiny golden ball with fluttering wings- whizzing about like a hummingbird.

"_Gotcha."_ she said softly as she nose dived. She heard the slight gasp from the people below as she picked up speed. In a matter of seconds she was going over a hundred noughts and the snitch was growing ever closer. From the corner of her eye she saw Liam Stebbins turn his head towards her, finally registering what she was doing just as her fingers closed around the snitch. She could practically hear Kye click his stopwatch, see his smug smile in her mind's eye. She didn't need to hear him say it for her to know that she'd gotten the best time.

She landed with Liam, the snitch still clasped tightly in her hand. She couldn't help but feel a small flare of excitement at the thought that she had finally made the position.

"Well, it seems the winner is obvious." Kye stated, beaming as the group of hopefuls surrounded him, most of them sulking. "Our best time is ahead here by a milestone. Congratulations, Victoire." he smiled. "Thirty two seconds. That's gotta be a new school record."

"This is bollocks." came a mutter from the seventh year girl. Kye turned to look at her, his eyebrow quirked. "You think you could do better?" he asked coldly. Victoire couldn't help but feel some affection towards Kye at his protective tone. "Because you can have another go." he continued. "Be my guest."

"You expect anyone to be able to catch a snitch under pressure in this grouping?" she spat, glaring at Kye. "There's no pressure. It's nothing like a real game."

Kye stared at the girl for a moment, his eyes narrowed. "What' your name again?"

"Priscilla Wisely." she said, her voice still holding that shrill tone of a woman scored.

"Alright Priscilla." Kye said suddenly. "You think you've been cheated, we'll give you a fair shot."

He looked across the field to the team that sat on their bench. There were still some other students who had failed to make the team mingling about. Kye put two fingers to his mouth and blew a high pitched whistle, catching everyone's attention.

"OI! Could I get everyone over here for a second?" she shouted across the field. "Bring your brooms!"

Victoire could feel her heart hammering in her chest. What was he doing? Priscilla seemed to be asking herself the same question because she was looking around as if she were about to be ambushed, her cheeks ruddy with blush. The crowd of Ravenclaws slowly made their way across the field to gather around Kye, all of them holding their brooms. Victoire recognized everything from the school's old Shooting Stars to the latest Firebolts. She clutched her Nimbus tightly. It was a much older model then the ones they had out now; Cleansweep Twenties and Comet 360s seemed to be instant favorites among the wealthier students, but Victoire had taken her family's word for it that the Nimbus 2000 was unlike any other.

"It seems we've come to a bit of a block in tryouts." Kye said, once everyone was gathered round. "Priscilla here doesn't think the seeker tryouts were fair. So we're going to make things a bit more realistic." he said, turning to wink at Toire. "You don't mind, do you?"

She felt the eyes of everyone on the field turn in her direction and her stomach flipped in nerves. Luckily she held her cool. "Not at all." she shrugged, and he smiled. Priscilla on the other hand seemed to be struggling with her emotions. Her face was red in half embarrassment and half anger as she mentally prepared herself for what was about to happen.

"Split up into two teams. Make sure the people who got on are separated so it's even. We're going to play a game."

An excited murmur ran through the group of students as they organized themselves into two teams, both consisting of hopefuls and official Ravenclaw players. "Victoire, you're with Sekhon and the others." Kye instructed, nodding over to one group where Alli Sekhon and the rest of her "team" were waiting. "Priscilla, you're with Fordor."

Priscilla grunted in response and trudged towards her end of the field stiffly. Victoire did the same, taking her starting position just as Kye took in the crowd.

"This'll be a quick match. Play for fun, keep it loose, and who ever catches the snitch first makes seeker. Deal?"

Victoire swallowed hard and nodded just as Priscilla did the same. With a full field of distractions, things were definitely going to be harder, especially since she wasn't familiar with the flight patterns of the others. She would be taken off guard a lot easier, and she couldn't rely on anyone to truly read her decisions. Pushing these thoughts aside, the whistle blew and the crowd took flight.

Victoire darted upwards with the pack just as the quaffle was put into play. The chasers darted left and right, some of them laughing nonchalantly, others with their faces in a mask of concentration. Victoire took a moment to look round the field and take in the players. None of them seemed too out of control so she instead focused on the snitch. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Priscilla circling the pitch eagerly, her eyes darting wildly for that flash of gold. Victoire's eyes wandered past the zooming chasers and the steady keepers, drifted over the well aimed beaters and focused on the light coming in from the clouds. If she could catch that glint of metal, the position would be hers.

A whoosh of air to her right distracted her- she felt her stomach drop as she did a barrel roll on her broom while a bludger missed her head by mere inches. Maybe it was just her, but they seemed to be getting feistier from year to year. Glancing round to see who had knocked it her way, she saw Kye zip past, his bat held loosely in one hand as he gave her an impressed nod. She wasn't sure whether to feel complimented that he was pleased, or insulted that he hit it her way in the first place. Her eyes narrowed as they followed his flight pattern, drifting along the end of his broom when suddenly- a flash of gold.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she squinted for a closer look. There it was; the snitch seemed to be trailing Kye's broom wherever he went, it's wings flapping a a hundred times a second. She glanced over at Priscilla who was still distracted by the mass of chasers that, to Victoire's pleasure, seemed to be trying to keep her busy. Without another moment's hesitation, she forced her broom into high gear as she zipped after Kye. A few seconds later Kye seemed to notice what she was doing. He checked over his shoulder continuously to try and see what she was playing at until he also caught sight of the snitch. The pieces clicked together and he let out a loud laugh of realization. Unfortunately, the laugh caught Priscilla's attention. Her eyes darted up towards the two of them and immediately by her expression, Victoire knew she had seen it.

"Come on, come on..." Victoire muttered under her breath, pushing the Nimbus to go faster. The snitch was only feet away as she kicked on an extra breath of speed. But it wasn't enough- Priscilla was gaining on her, her Firebolt 9 practically ripping up the wind. If she didn't grab it soon, Priscilla would. All of a sudden though, she caught a flash of movement from ahead. Kye seemed to be trying to signal to her. Priscilla hadn't noticed, her attention remaining on the snitch, but as Victoire squinted to watch Kye, she saw that he was making a downward motion with his hand. Understanding dawned on her and she gave him a curt nod. He beamed and turned back to the front just as Priscilla's broom matched neck and neck with Victoire's.

"This is mine!" Priscilla called through the air, her face an expression of agony and triumph while her hand reached out desperately, only a few fearful inches away from the snitch. Victoire nearly shut her eyes as not to see it when Kye pulled the maneuver. In a split second, he dove- his broom twigs flying straight up. Victoire was expecting it and tipped her broom vertically as well, the two of them dovetailing down towards the earth at rapid speed. Victoire felt the drop in her stomach and didn't look up to see if Priscilla was following. There was the snitch, right in front of her nose. She shot out her hand and her fingers closed around the cool metal, the wings beating weakly against her palm as she let out a cry of triumph and pulled out of the dive at the last second.

She soared upwards, the snitch still clasped tightly in her hand just as Kye blew his whistle and the other players ceased their game. Priscilla was already on the pitch, several of the twigs on her broom snapped from slamming it down in frustration. Victoire watched her storm away momentarily before turning back to her fellow Ravenclaws, many of whom were applauding loudly. She couldn't help but feel the blush creep up her face as she landed with the others, the snitch still held tightly in her hand as Kye walked forwards.

"Welcome aboard, Weasley." he said, taking the snitch from her. "You exceeded my expectations. Brilliant job." he added, giving her one last wink as the rest of the new Ravenclaw team stepped forward to shake her hand and introduce themselves.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she'd seen a flash of turquoise and heard distant cheering from the Gryffindor stands.

"She was brilliant." Teddy said for what must have been the millionth time over breakfast Sunday morning. "You should have seen the look on this other girl's face when she lost. Completely priceless." he chortled, shoveling a spoonful of scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"We know Teddy, it's been two days. We haven't forgotten." Ginger said, rolling her eyes as she buttered her toast. It was the day of the Gryffindor tryouts and Teddy didn't seem in the least bit nervous about facing a crowd of eager students. Knowing the Gryffindor's fiery spirit, they would probably put up more of an argument then Priscilla did trying to get on the team.  
>"Aren't you nervous at all?" Victoire asked, trying to change the subject. "Your old keeper graduated last year as well as one of your chasers. You need new blood." she said sternly, pouring a glass of orange juice which Teddy promptly snagged from her reach and downed in one. "Hey..." she protested weakly as he swallowed and smacked his lips.<p>

"A new keeper, chaser, and possibly a new seeker. Jenny's been losing her touch." he said casually, his eyes following Toire's hand as she stole one of his hash browns. "And no, I'm not nervous." he said calmly.

"Why is that?" she replied, leaning on her hand as she turned her wide blue eyes towards him. Teddy felt a clench in his stomach as he met them and his heart started beating double time. _The things she does to me_, he thought to himself momentarily before he was kicked back to reality.

"Be-" He cleared his throat. "Because, I'll have my good luck charm with me."

"You got some rabbit's foot hidden away that we don't know about, Ted?" Clyde jeered from farther down the table just as Teddy flipped him off.

"What good luck charm?" Victoire asked, stifling her smile from Clyde's comment. Teddy felt heat shoot through his lower abdomen and wasn't thinking quite straight when he spoke. "You, of course." he replied.

The moment he said it he saw the affect it had on her. Her eyes widened and her face flushed rather suddenly, not quite reaching her ears but making her red enough that he could see why Dominique constantly compared her to a tomato. He saw her cast a quick glance at Ginger before regaining herself and turning back to him.

"Right." she said, her face already paling back to normal. "About that."

Now it was Teddy's turn to look out of place. "You're not coming?" he asked, his expression suddenly serious. Victoire dropped her gaze as if ashamed by what she had to say.

"I've got plans actually. I'm sorry, Teddy."

"Plans with who?" he asked, not liking the sound of this. She forced herself to meet his eyes again.

"Kye wants to take a walk around grounds. Go over some planning for the year."

A beat of silence followed as Teddy processed this news. Victoire expected to see several emotions cross his face, but instead saw only blankness as he stared at her. For once, he had actually done a good job at hiding his emotions.

"He needs you to help him with that?" he spoke finally, his voice lower then before. More private. These were words meant for her. Except the fact that they were words of doubt bothered her.

"He wants my opinion." she replied, quirking her head to the side slightly. "He thinks I'm a valuable asset."  
>"Right, I'm sure that's all he thinks of you." Teddy muttered, dropping his gaze and turning away.<p>

"What's that supposed to mean?" Victoire asked, her voice taking on a dark edge as she willed him to look back at her. She could already feel the pulsing anger in her chest as he refused to do so.

"I'm pretty sure, Victoire, that you know exactly what it's supposed to mean." he said, standing up and pushing back the bench. His eyes flitted up to the clock above the oak doors.

"It's nearly ten. I should get going." Their group of friends glanced up at him awkwardly. "Cheers everyone." he said flatly, before knocking the table twice with his fist and turning to leave the hall. Victoire whirled her head around to watch him go, his striking figure drawing the attention of numerous girls in all houses, just as it did everyday. Just as he reached the oak doors she could see his hair, moments ago a bright teal- change to a dark, almost unsettling red. That was the thing with Teddy. While his face on occasion may be able to hide what he was feeling, his hair would always give him away.

"So what sort of plans were you thinking of?" Victoire asked Kye as they left the school. It was nearly eleven and she had found him waiting for her in their common room, dressed a bit better then usually. She felt a bit like slob compared to him actually, wearing her oldest jeans with the rip in the knee she'd gotten from an de-gnoming incident and countless grass stains from Quiddich tumbles. On top she had pulled on a fitted mauve Weasley sweater that her grandmother had given her a few years ago as a gift, the golden V stitched this time over the heart instead of large on the full shirt. She had taken a brief shower a few moments prior as well and her hair was still damp in it's long braid. All together, she looked like she should have been baby sitting her cousins, not going for a walk about with a boy.

Except that was all he was, she reminded herself. A boy. Just someone in her house who wanted to talk about Quiddich. As she told herself this though, she couldn't help imagining Teddy back at the table. _I'm sure that's all he thinks of you_. The sarcasm had practically dripped from his voice as he spoke the words and she wondered now how he was doing, holding tryout for what would be his first and last time. A sudden drop in her stomach occurred as she realized his. Next year Teddy would be gone. Then what would she do?

"...what do you think of that?"

Victoire glanced over at Kye who seemed to be looking at her expectantly.

"Sorry?" she said weakly, having dazed out of the conversation and missed everything he'd been saying. He quirked an eyebrow at her in amusement and she felt her cheeks flush.

"Let's take a walk. I'll explain later." he said, taking a step forwards as the pair headed around the grounds.

Teddy stood on the Quiddich pitch, watching the third group of hopefuls he'd put together fly laps around the arena. Harry had told him that this was the best way to start out a team. See who were the best fliers and work from there. To his left were the groups of people already flown, chattering happily to each other because he'd decided to let them stick around. Among them were Jensen, Noel Kilman and Katy Thomas, all players he'd worked with in past years, all returning to play again. They were looking fantastic as well, Katy having improved even more over the summer if that was possible. In the group of fliers circling now was their old seeker, Jenny Mortemor. Teddy liked Jenny, but the past year she'd come far to close to having them lose games then he would have liked. _If only Toire was a Gryffindor_, he thought to himself, following the players with his eyes and then suddenly shaking his head. _Dammit!_ There he'd gone, thinking about Toire again. He knew she'd been frustrated with him at breakfast, but honestly what did she expect him to do? She could be so naive sometimes; accepting Kye as just some guy who wanted to be her friend as opposed to one who wanted to get into her knickers. It was Max Northwick all over again. He couldn't bear the thought of anyone hurting her like that, of anyone kissing her and not feeling a thing. If anyone were to kiss her...

His mind wandered to how she'd looked that morning when he'd first seen her, hair still mussed from sleep with circles under her eyes and yet, she was still beautiful. He wondered how soft her lips were...

"Oi, Lupin!"

Teddy started and glanced up towards the group in the sky, one of whom had stopped flying to get his attention. "Are we about done?"

Teddy kicked himself and blinked several times to come back into focus. "Yeah, yeah we are." he said, his attention reconnecting with the players. "Everyone come down."

The group landed and formed a line as instructed. He walked up the row of students, patting those on the shoulder whom he was cutting from the race and nodding at those he chose to stay. Once he had the selected number of decent fliers, he had them gather in a group.

"Right. Now who plays chaser?"

Nearly an hour of tryouts later and Teddy's voice was getting hoarse from calling orders from his broom where he was flying with the hopefuls. Chaser and beater auditions had already finished, leaving him back with all his old teammates as well as brilliant new chaser, someone he knew very well- Fred Weasley II. Fred had surprised them all when he didn't go for his usual position of beater and nailed the chaser role instead. To say Teddy had been pleased would be an understatement. Now he was with the keepers, having his new chasers take turns at taking shots. There was already on bloke who seemed to be shaping up well- a sixth year named Connor Ray. Teddy flew by and gave him a particularly tricky left handed shot, but Ray knocked it down like it was nothing but a balloon. Nodding in pride, Teddy glanced down to the remaining crowd of students that strayed about the bottom when something from the far north over by the castle caught his eye. Two figures were rounding the courtyard and in an instant, Teddy recognized who they were. He could recognize Victoire at triple that distance, so it was no surprise when he felt a sinking drop of loathing for Kye Bolton in his stomach as he watched them walk along the mossy path, Victoire laughing at something Kye had just said. He watched as Kye beamed at Victoire, his dark eyes squinting in the sun which caught in his hair.

_Twat needs a haircut_, Teddy thought bitterly just as Kye brushed his hand casually against Victoire's. She made no move to acknowledge it but Teddy's eyebrows shot into his hair and before he knew it his hand was on his wand.

"One more move you tosser, and I swear..." he muttered under his breath, his eyes still glued on his best friend and what he took as a sorry excuse for a boy. Just as the words came out of his mouth, he saw Kye slide his hand casually towards Victoire's, on of his fingers looping with hers as his smug smile widened.

"Fucker." Teddy spat, whipping out his wand and aiming it at Kye. He was just about the lay a bat bogey hex on him like he'd never seen before when Victoire bluntly slid her hand away from Kye and crossed her arms firmly. Teddy stopped mid jinx, his eyes widening with his smile. She hadn't accepted him. She'd tossed him off. Teddy let out a laugh as he watched them, suddenly feeling everything get a bit lighter. She wasn't interested, and she'd let him know. Even from that distance he could see the disappointment on Kye's face, causing a roar of triumph to erupt in Teddy's chest. "Ah, you prat." he laughed to himself, and maybe it was the giddiness of the moment or maybe it was getting rid of that last burst of spite, but Teddy found himself forming his lips into the familiar words that jinxed Kye Bolton's legs into doing a wild and uncontrollable jig, leaving Kye to try to regain control while blushing wildly and Victoire to whirl around and stare accusingly at Teddy, knowing right from the moment it hit that it was Teddy who had sent the hex.

"He'll be fine in an hour or so dear, right after his leg's have gotten the last of the rhythm out of them." madame Pomfrey smiled at Victoire as she attended to Kye's legs. It had taken nearly half an hour for Victoire to get Kye all the way up to the hospital wing so madame Pomfrey could sort out his legs. It had been especially difficult on the stairs when he'd kept doing ballet leaps whenever they reached a step with a crack in it. The moment he'd been hit with the curse, Victoire knew it was Teddy. Sure enough, she'd seen him looking their way just as Kye let out the first woop of shock as his legs sprang into action, just barely missing kicking her in the shin. She knew enough about Teddy's jelly dance hexes to know that they couldn't be fixed with a simple anti-jinx, having been the victim of several of them when she was younger. Now she simply nodded to madame Pomfrey and headed out the door of the hospital wing, ignoring the tap routine Kye's feet had started to play out as she closed the door behind her.

_Bloody Teddy... _she thought to herself, the image of his smirk flashing in her mind's eye. She hoped he was enjoying himself now, because the next time she saw him she was going to make sure the rest of his day was hell.

She continued down the corridors indenting to do just that, her legs storming past the paintings that called after her. She'd removed her sweater once they'd stepped inside and now barged past other students in her jeans and dark green tank top. Rounding hall after hall she made her way towards the Gryffindor common room, taking a sudden right in a short cut behind the statue of the singing witch on the fourth floor. She was just about to slow her pace when she stopped intirely.

Walking casually down the hall before her was a familiar, tall, teal haired boy.

She felt her heart clench at the sight of him, and the next thing she knew she was letting out a rather loud sigh.

"That was childish." she said sternly, watching as he froze in his tracks. Slowly, as if to tempt her further, he turned around. That devilish smirk was plastered on his face, just as it had been in her imagination.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he replied, shoving his hands deep in his pockets and starting to walk towards her.

"Don't be daft." she snapped, her eyes narrowing as he approached. "I saw you, you were watching us. And besides, nobody throws that sort of jinx like you do."

"You would know." he grinned, stopping about a foot away from her. Something in her chest fluttered at the smile, but she quickly squashed it before it could blossom into something more emotional.

"Why did you do it?" she asked, spitting out the first question that came to mind in order to move the focus back onto him. Something in his expression flickered and he glanced away from her, sliding his hands into his back pockets in the image of nonchalance.

"Does it matter? He's fine now, isn't he?" Teddy replied, turning his back on her to walk away.

"That's not the point." she said sharply, quickening her pace to catch up to his long strides. She saw him roll his eyes and just as she was about to open her mouth to tell him off again, he side stepped into her path, causing her to stop so abruptly that she just about fell over.

He loomed over her, nearly a head taller now. His eyes, once bright with humor, were darker with something she didn't recognize. His expression was still one of amusement, but it contained something more then that. The same look in his eyes.

"Victoire." he said softly, his voice caressing her name and making her legs feel as if he'd jinxed them as well. His hair hung just in his eyes in a way that made her want nothing more then to run her hands through it. "You're not really mad about this, are you?" he asked her, his voice already knowing the answer. She pursed her lips in an attempt to seem skeptical, but as she did so he let out a smile so radiant that all thoughts of spite were immediately erased from her mind.

"Not... really." she said, the tone of skepticism still hovering above that last word. If possible, his smile grew even bigger as he leaned in slightly, taking what was left of her breath away.

"Forgive me?" he murmured, holding her gaze. She opened her mouth to say yes, when suddenly he winked.

Something about that wink; either the cockiness of it or merely the expression woke her up as if someone had dumped a bucket of water over her head.

"_No_." she said firmly, taking a step backwards as his face fell in shock. She picked up speed and walked past him, her ears picking up the sound of his pause, and then his hurried running as he caught up.

"Why not?" he asked, clearly baffled by her will.

"Because, Ted, I'm not going to give into your charms." she said, rolling her eyes at him as he grinned at the comment.

"Course you will." he smiled. "I know you."

"Yeah right." she said, continuing to walk. Beside her, Teddy raised his eyebrows.

"You think I don't?" he asked her, stopping her in her tracks once again as he held his arm out. "You honestly think I don't know you?"

She didn't say anything, merely fixed him with a stare.

"Okay." he said, showing mock offence. "Okay. Try this on for size." he said, stretching his fingers until they cracked.

"You're Victoire Gabrielle Weasley, sixteen years old, born in May 1999. You live at Shell Cottage with your mum, dad and two siblings and in your spare time you like to read, swim and play Quiddich. You speak french fluently but can't really cook much besides eggs and toast and you're rubbish at singing. You love mysteries and enjoy being the center of attention even though you constantly claim otherwise."

He shut his mouth and gave her a knowing smile, quirking an eyebrow challengingly as he awaited her response.

"Really Ted?" she said, giving him a similar expression. "You'll have to do better then that."

His eyes narrowed at the challenge and he frowned. "Fine." he said, crossing his arms and inspecting her. "Your grandmother made you that sweater," he said, nodding to the Weasley sweater she held tightly in her hand. "...the stains on your jeans are from Quiddich tumbles and you stole those shoes from Ginny's closet the summer after your third year." he said as she dropped her eyes to the black lace ups she wore. "You had your first kiss when you were nine the summer before I left for school when we went into town with George and Percy to get something for supper. It was with the muggle son of that baker." Victoire felt herself blush at the memory. "You can't stand turnips and you're afraid of drowning, muggle weapons, caves by the ocean and losing the people you love. You're a virgin. You always lose your left sock sooner or later and you hate mascara because it always flakes into your eye. You've never lied to your dad although you lie to your mum frequently and..." he trailed off, his eyes dropping to the rip in her jeans. "That scar on your knee is from when you were six and you fell out of the third story window into the flowerbed at the Burrow." he finished, fixing her with a stare. "Now tell me I don't know you."

She returned the look for almost a full minute before it broke on both their faces. "Wow." she said finally. "I'm impressed."

"As you should be." Teddy smirked, following her down the hall.

"Yeah, you got ninety nine percent of those facts right." she grinned, continuing down as he stopped in his tracks.

"Ninety nine?" he repeated. She kept walking, the grin having transferred to her face. "What part was off?" he called.

"Oh, just something in the middle." she replied, nearing the end of the hall. His face quenched up as he tried to remember and then when it dawned on him his eyes widened.

"You're a..." he muttered to himself, before looking back after her just as she was about to round the corner. "You're a virgin." he said, his voice almost cracking with the words. "You're a virgin, right?"

A devilish smile snaked onto Victoire's face as she turned to give him a look. "I forgive you for about Kye." she said, before disappearing around the corner.

"Hey!" Teddy called, still standing there in shock. "HEY!" She didn't come back but he could just hear her laughter echoing down the corridor. "Come on Toire, don't mess with me here! Come back!" he said, a grin reaching his face as he took off after her. "I know when you're lying!"

"You sure about that?" she called back.

"Oh come on Toire!" he called back, chasing after ner. "Wait up!" he yelled as he broke into a run, their footsteps echoing throughout the corridor.


	29. Banshees and Grindylows

The rain pounded down around Victoire as she flew through the drops. It was nearing nine o'clock and Kye couldn't have picked a worse time for practice. October had been miserable so far, the leaves falling off early except for the scarce few that clung to the branches, still red with the last shades of autumn. The sky had darkened early and as the clouds opened and the flood came down, Victoire was having a hard time keeping her thoughts cheery.

"Let's keep the passes going, come on come on!" Kye shouted over the roar of thunder in the distance. Victoire blinked through the rain that slid down her face and tried to ignore the shuddering chill of the water seeping through her robes. "Let's go Fordor, keep 'em coming!" Kye shouted through the fog, and Victoire saw out of the corner of her eye Mannix Fordor throwing quaffle after quaffle, his thin frame trembling in the cold. This was their fourth practice of the year and she was finally getting into the swing of the other players. Alli Sekhon was the clear lead of the chasers; her flight patterns clean and smooth, slicing through the air as if her broom were a blade. She was reliable and always open to pass the ball when she felt the opportunity would be right. Nelly Daravan was a decent chaser as well, but she wasn't as reliable as the others. And then there was Mannix, who was probably the most interesting out of the new additions. Where he lacked confidence, he made up for with his incredible speed and aim. He had this way with the broom that nobody could understand. He was so small and yet so unexpectedly talented that Victoire couldn't wait until their first game when he would take everyone by surprise.

But now the only thing she saw was a freezing kid. In fact, the whole team was looking the worst she'd ever seen them at so far. The rain and the freezing cold was taking their toll on them, all except for one: Kye.

"Let's _go _guys, things aren't gonna be any easier on game day!" he shouted over the clap of thunder that followed. Victoire could feel the bite of anger in her chest at his tone and knew that the miserable weather was getting to her. Apparently the rest of the team was feeling similarly as well. Victoire couldn't stop noticing the pissed off expression plastered on Ree Gorvitch's face as she manned the hoops against the constant pounding of quaffles. Even Harrison Lee, Kye's best friend and fellow beater was looking grim. Except the only thing they could do was wait it out.

Teddy was in the common room with the others. The fire cracked loudly by the mantel as his friends chattered and worked on their homework. Teddy stood by the window, staring out over the grounds. The rain hammered against the glass and all he could think of was Victoire and how she was handling her first storm practice. He'd had enough of them to know how terrible they were and was wondering when hers would wrap up.

"Teddy quit being anti-social and get over here!" Ginger called from her spot on the couch where she lounged next to Sean.

"Ah, leave him be." Clyde said, a smirk in his voice. "He's probably still busy pondering over his life's big question."

Teddy winced and could practically hear Ginger and Marcy raise their eyebrows in question.

"Big question?" Marcy asked, leaning forward towards her boyfriend. "Do tell."

"Ah, well I'm surprised you didn't hear about it earlier, it's been almost a month." Clyde snickered.

"Clyde." Teddy said warningly, but Clyde ignored him. "He's all hot and bothered because there's one tiny fact he doesn't know about Victoire."

"I'd imagine there's more than just one." Marcy mused, earning her a glare from Teddy's direction. "What is it?" Ginger asked, ignoring Teddy's disapproving stares. Clyde cast Teddy a look, a wicked spark in his eye as Teddy shook his head no. Clyde felt it best to ignore.

"He is unaware of Victoire's sexual experiences." Clyde said, turning his nose up with a smile. He was met with blank stares and cast his friends a look. "He doesn't know if she's a virgin." he said, exasperated.

"Ohh." Ginger nodded, leaning back in her spot just as Teddy left the window to join them. He took special care to whack Clyde in the back of the head as he passed and took a seat in one of the armchairs. Clyde winced and then proceeded to look at Marcy expectantly.

"What?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Well? Is she?" he asked her and Marcy let out a snort. "_That,_" Marcy said, casting a glance at Ginger, "is for us girls to know and for you to never find out."

"Oh _come on._" Clyde wined, pushing off from the couch and leaning into Marcy. "Teddy wants to know." he smiled, blinking his eyes at Marcy in a way that he may have thought was cute but honestly just turned out looking hilarious.

"I don't care." Teddy said suddenly from across the room. His voice was neutral but immediately one could sense that he wasn't all there. His mind was in another place. None of his friends spoke, and even though he didn't feel he had to, he continued. "I don't care if she's a virgin or not. It doesn't change anything. She's still Victoire to me."

A softer silence followed and lingered in the group, leaving not many the willingness to speak. Teddy glanced up at the clock on the mantel, it's hands clearly reading ten after ten. Most of the Gryffindors had already gone to bed as to get a good night's sleep for the next day, but Teddy was still wide awake.

"She should be back soon." Marcy said softly, breaking the silence. The others seemed to break out of their daze and nodded in agreement. Jensen got up off the couch and stretched, his back popping and a sliver of stomach suddenly visible beneath his shirt. "I'm off to bed, I think." he stated as the other boys nodded. "Yeah, I should probably be getting back too..." Ginger agreed, standing with the rest of them. And just like that the group began to disperse. "Hopefully Victoire'll be back in her room when I get there." Ginger said with a smile and a brief look at Sean as she waved and exited the portrait hole, making her way out into the corridors once again.

Teddy watched her go, the rest of his friends still lingering about, exchanging glances at one another behind his back.

"Actually..." Teddy said suddenly, watching the portrait swing shut behind Ginger. "...I've got somewhere I need to be." His friends turned to look at him, surprise on their faces.

"What? Teddy, it's after hours. You'll be caught for sure." Marcy countered, a look of concern growing on her face.

"That's _if _he gets caught." Clyde grinned, nodding at his friend. "Do what you gotta do, man."

Teddy nodded to his friends, almost caught up in a daze as he pushed open the portrait and disappeared through it into the black beyond. Just as it closed behind him, Jensen chuckled to himself as he turned to go.

"He's completely gone." he laughed, making his way up the stairs towards the boys dormitory.

"Head over heels." Clyde agreed, looking down at Marcy and kissing her softly. She smiled at him and he returned the look.

"So..." he said, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"So what?" Marcy countered, her voice curious. Clyde continued to watch her happily.

"So is Victoire a virgin or not?"

"Clyde!"

Teddy rounded the final hall towards the Ravenclaw changing room. He could hear slight chatter from the far end as the corridor grew colder and colder nearing the large doors that led outside. The pounding of rain was even more evident here and as he approached he couldn't help but wonder what Kye had them working on so late in such horrible conditions. Suddenly a group of robed figures emerged from the room, all of them sopping wet. Teddy recognized them as the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and saw right away that none of them were smiling. In fact they all looked miserable, not to mention freezing. He quickly ducked into an alcove as they pasted, hoping not to be seen sneaking about. As the group walked by he caught a snippet of their conversation.

"...hope she'll be alright." said an Indian girl whose raven braid was bunched together with water. "That crash towards the end was awful. I'm surprised she didn't break anything."

"It was all Kye's fault. I don't know what he was thinking..." muttered Harrison Lee, running a hand through his dripping hair. "He was pushing her way too hard."

Teddy felt his chest clench as he noticed that Victoire was not with this group of players. It seemed like all of them had dispersed _except _for Toire. This left him to wonder where she could be.

As if to answer his question, a loud sniff echoed out from the Ravenclaw change room, reverberating along the walls. It was followed by another one, quieter this time and accompanied by the drips of rain on stone floors. Teddy waited for the footsteps to recede down the hall before he stepped back out. Hesitant, he followed the wall towards the change room. Reaching the door he stopped for a moment, looking back to see if he'd missed Toire or if there was any chance of getting caught. Once deciding there wasn't, he poked his head around the corner and felt an instant chill at what he saw.

Victoire was hunched over on one of the benches in the change room, her pony tail a tangled rat's nest of rain and mud. She was preoccupied with unlacing her Quidditch boots but he could distinctly see the smears of mud and gravel on her navy robes; a particularly long grass stain running straight through her printed name on the back of her uniform. He took a step into the room, his heart nearly still as she sniffed again and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. He couldn't see her face from the angle he stood at, but noticed a long gash lining the back of one of her hands as she pulled at a stubborn knock in the laces. She inhaled a shaky breath and that was all it took for him to snap.

"Victoire." he said, taking a step towards her into the change room, his fists clenched together.

She whirled at the sound, her head twisting towards him. The moment she recognized the face she flinched back, attempting to hide was was obvious on her porcelain skin but it was too late. Teddy didn't need a second glance to see the angry red field burn that ran half the length of her cheek, even when she rounded her head to hide it.

"Oh Merlin..." she muttered under her breath, hastily trying to move her hair so it covered the mark but in an instant Teddy was there to stop her. He rounded the change room without hesitation and crouched down in front of her, getting a clear image of her face. She was avoiding his eyes deliberately but he could still see all the conflict she felt there. Her cheeks were red and ruddy with cold, but the dirty scar stood out all the same. The mud on her face was streaked in several places with what was either tears or rainwater, which exactly he wasn't sure. He could barely make out any of her freckles under the grime and when he placed a hand on her knee she pulled back.

"Bastard..." Teddy muttered under his breath just as Victoire ran a hand through her rain soaked hair.

"He's not." she countered, glancing away and wiping at her eyes angrily, confirming Teddy's doubts about the rain tears from before. "He's just persistent. It was my fault anyway, I wasn't paying attention."

"Toire, _nobody _could pay attention in that weather." Teddy said sternly, nodding towards the open door where beyond thunder cracked and rain poured down in buckets. "Bolton's a shit if he thinks he can get a decent practice in in that storm."

She didn't object but still wouldn't meet his eyes as he watched her. Neither of them were very aware of how close they were to each other; Teddy looking on to try and see what she was thinking all while Victoire fought to do the opposite. Eventually Teddy glanced away, but only seconds before she gave in and drew her eyes to him.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked him, shivering through her words.

"Taking care of you." he said bluntly, reaching down for her boots as she raised her eyebrows in alarm. His calloused fingers went to work on the knots in her boots at a much faster pace than her thin ones, and for once she didn't object when he loosened the footwear to pull it off.

"Did you bring a change?" he asked her, starting on the other boot as her socks dripped rain onto the floor.

"Slipped m-my m-mind." she sniffed, not before catching him get in a well exaggerated eye roll.

"H-hey." she quipped, shivering through the objection. "S-sarcasm n-not n-n-necessary."

"Well you're really in no place to stop me are you?" he countered calmly, his fingers sliding in behind her leg to slide the shoe off her foot, his finger grazing her calf as he did so.

"Merlin, you're freezing." he said, the cold from her skin sending a shock of ice through his fingertips as he stood up before her, swinging the muddy boots over his shoulder and offering her his hand.

She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide as her entire frame quivered from the chill. He couldn't begin to word how much it bothered him to see her like that, and made a silent vow to himself that the next time he met Kye Bolton there would be more then stern words shared between them.

"You going to sit there all night?." he asked, his hand still outstretched, waiting for her until she reached out to take it. Her hands were even colder on his as he pulled her up off the bench. She tried to drop her hand from his but he wasn't letting go so easy. He entwined his fingers through hers, not meeting her eyes as a blush warmed her cheeks.

"Come on." he said, taking a step towards the door but Toire hesitated. "What is it?" he asked, looking back at her as she dropped her gaze. "I m-might have p-p-possibly sprained m-my ankle." she said looking up at him through dark lashes. They're gazes held for a moment, neither of them speaking. Then all of a sudden, Teddy let out a huge laugh, echoing throughout the change room.

"Sh-shut up!" she cried, her blush getting darker as she leaned in and whacked his arm all the while his laughter grew louder.

"You're so pathetic!" he cackled, pulling her closer and wrapping one of her arms around his shoulders. "Come on, let's go." he grinned as she leaned into his shoulder. "Try a step."

Together they made their way towards the corridor, their footsteps matched with each pace. By the time they reached the first set of stairs though, Teddy's sleeve was soaked through from Toire's damp robes and he was noticing the grimace of pain she was trying to hide every time she put weight on her left foot.

"Think you can make the stairs?" Teddy asked her, glancing down at her feet as she shifted their position uncomfortably.

"O-oh yeah." she said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I g-got this." She took a step forward and Teddy let her put some of her own weight down. She let out a gasp of pain as the impact hit her ankle and in an instant he was back, supporting her side.

"Liar." he mumbled, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Come on, you're not taking these on your own." he said and the next thing she knew he had stooped down and picked her up in typical bridal threshold position.

"Teddy!"

"You love it, don't deny it." Teddy laughed, lifting her without a sweat, one arm supporting her back as the other one cradled her legs.

"What if someone comes down here? We're not supposed to be out after curfew." she objected weakly.

"Since when has that ever stopped you before?" he countered, taking the stairs two at a time as she groaned in embarrassment. "This is a bad idea..." she muttered into his shoulder as his grin grew increasingly wider. Maybe she was flustered, but in all honestly he was just enjoying the contact. He could feel the smooth curves and ridges of her body pressed against his as he readjusted his grip below her legs, the water from her robes soaking him clean through.

Once they'd reached the top of the stairs he reluctantly put her down.

"Thank you." she said bluntly, trying to hide her smile from him as he helped her along the corridor. The two of them walked in silence for quite a ways, the only sounds being their footsteps and the soft trickling of water that would occasionally run off Victoire's clothes or the back of her hair. After about five minutes of silence, Victoire raised her voice just loud enough to hear.

"Teddy..." she stated, a certain suspicion in her tone.

"Hmm?" he asked, still quite enjoying his current predicament. She cast her gaze over to him but he refused to meet it, trying too hard to hide the ever growing smile upon his face.

"Teddy, this isn't the way to the hospital wing." she stated bluntly.

He cleared his throat as a way to attempt hiding his smirk, but when she didn't buy it he spoke up again. "I know that."

"...and it isn't the way to the Ravenclaw tower." she said, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I know that too." he said, casting her a mild sideways glance. "I _am _the current holder of the marauder's map you know." he said, testing her patience on purpose. "One would think you'd give me more credit for knowing my way about the castle."

"_Teddy_." she said sternly as he rolled his eyes at the tone.

"The Gryffindor tower is just _closer_." he mock-whined, giving her his best set of puppy dog eyes. "Come on, we're nearly there and you're soaked to the bone already. There's warmth and fire and dry clothes just around the corner." he said encouragingly.

"It's too late for this..." she muttered, but didn't object as they approached the portrait of the fat lady. She opened her eyes blearily at the sight of them and quirked on particularly plucked eyebrow.

"Bit late for a swim outdoors isn't it Ms. Weasley?" she directed at Victoire whose cheeks dropped a deeper tone of red. "Don't you two ever remember the rules?" she asked, turning her accusing eyes towards Teddy as he cast her one of his most charming grins. "Only on our worst days." he smiled. "Melancholy."

The fat lady gave a final roll of her eyes as she swung forward upon deliverance of the password and Teddy climbed in through the portrait hole first to help Victoire in on her way.

Once inside he was relieved to see the common room had finally emptied for the night, leaving the best of the armchairs free and the embers still crackling beyond the hearth.

"Come on." he said, sliding her down from the light ledge that dropped into the room. It was the first time all night he was fully aware of how alone the two of them were and how long it had been since they'd had a moment like this. Without intending it, he felt a hasty drop of nerves rebound in his stomach.

"So." came Victoire's voice from behind and he turned to see her leaning against one of the sofas, her ankle propped up in an awkward position off to the side. "This is your plan of a safe night in?" she joked, her voice losing more of its shiver as the fire heated her from the outside in. Her hair was still drenched in rain but there was a healthy glow returning to her skin as she moved closer to the flames. He raised an eyebrow at the jest and took a step back towards the boys dormitories. "Give me two seconds." he said, before disappearing up the stairs.

He took more than two seconds, granted. Victoire took another glance around the empty common room that was all too familiar to her. When she'd first gotten to Hogwarts she had longed and cherished the time she spent here with her Gryffindor friends. It reminded her of home in a way- the overstuffed furniture, the crackling flames and warm colours. The way it could seem like the warmest place in the world even on the coldest of winter nights, the charm it held upon the return from a victorious Quidditch match, even the little nicks and damages in the walls and such brought a familiar feeling from the room that had been loved and admired by so many other students over the years. Shuddering in her clothes, she made limped over to the couch closest to the fire and took a seat, trying to avoid getting the cushions too damp. She'd left her broom locked up with the others in the changeroom, not wanting to have to drag it all the way back up to her dormitory and risk waking half the castle with the clanging. Maybe she'd have time to go get in on the morrow, but for now she just concentrated on getting the feeling in her fingers back.

Reaching up to pull the elastic from her hair, her hand brushed against the angry red mark that had carved its way into her skin when she took the faceplant earlier in the evening. She'd sworn that she'd seen the snitch in the dark just hovering over the gravel, but it had turned out to be a trick of the light. A mistake Victoire had made a second too late when she lost control of her broom after a blast of thunder distracted her from pulling up in time. She ran a hand through her hair trying to get out some of the bigger knots but failing and eventually just letting it hang loose in a disaster around her head while she waited. Teddy had been gone for over five minutes now and she was almost fully warmed. _What had he gone to get anyway?_ she wondered to herself. It was too late for anything of importance and she hoped to god he wasn't going to ask her to finish his potions essay for him. If that were the case, she might need another glass from Marcy's firewhisky stash.

There was a creaking from behind her then, a noise she associated with someone descending the steps into the common room. Sure enough only a moment or two passed before Teddy rounded into the room. He was wearing a different set of clothes- what she knew were his pyjamas actually. Plaid bottoms and a loose grey tee shirt that she knew for a fact he had put on just because he was coming back down. Under his arm he held a pile of what looked like clothes, but there were other things in the mix as well.

"What did you get?" she asked him, moving to the side of the couch to make room as he dropped the pile between then and collapsed onto the cushions.

"Necessities." he answered, grabbing the pile and laying out each thing one at a time like he was a host on a game show. Victoire pulled her feet up onto the couch and sat across from him cross legged. Catching her eye with him, Teddy pointed to each pile.

"Clothes." he said, resting a hand on the first stack. She could see a couple articles of folded clothing that mildly peaked her attention there, but he moved on. "Clean up." he said, his hand coming to rest on a towel and a face cloth accompanied by a small bowl. "Food." he finished, reaching behind him and producing two giant mugs, a package of cocoa powder and a half full bag of mini marshmallows. Her eyebrows shot up and he cast her a ridiculous smile, one that she had to return and couldn't get off her face for a few minutes.

"Wow, you come prepared." she mused, reaching for the towel and patting herself down.

"Who else is gonna look out for you?" he smiled, pulling out his wand and pointing it at the bowl. "_Aguamenti_." he muttered, the two of them watching as the bowl filled with clear water that shot out of the tip of his wand. Once it was full, he moved on to the two mugs, adding the hot cocoa powder and muttering another spell to heat the liquid. He dropped a handful of marshmallows into hers and passed it over.

"Thanks." she murmured, taking the mug from him. The heat immediately shot through her fingers and she felt a relief of warmth run through her as she took a drink.

"You should get that looked at tomorrow." he nodded, taking a drink from his own cup. It took her a moment to realize that he was talking about her face. Swallowing, she put down the mug and raised a hand to brush the wound gingerly. It burned against her fingers and she winced, remembering the fall.

"Here..." She looked up at Teddy who had also put his cup down and was dipping the washcloth in the water beside them. She watched him wring it out a couple times and didn't move as he raised it to her face. The cool fabric came as a relief to her skin even if it prickled in spots where he wiped the dirt off her face. After a moment or two, he simply left it there too cool her. She raised her eyes to his and felt her heart double up it's beating when she saw that he was watching her with the same intensity, the two of them locked in that constant battle of who'll-speak-first. After a minute of the silence and Teddy's steady stare, Victoire couldn't take it anymore.

"So," she said, clearing her throat just as he pulled the cloth away seemingly coming to his senses. "did you borrow the clothes from Marcy or something?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at what she hoped was a flirtatious look and not one studded with doubt and confidence issues. Teddy didn't seem to notice because at the mention of the clothes, a bashful grin came to his face and he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Actually, they're mine." he said nonchalantly, running a hand through his hair and messing it up even more so in the light. "Marcy was sleeping."

Victoire hit him with a dead straight stare. "Yours." she repeated.

"Hey, you can stay in damp clothes all you like if they're not suitable to your standards princess." he shrugged, his grin not faltering for a second. Giving him a doubtful look, she held up one of the folded pieces of clothing which quickly unraveled in her hands. She felt a deep blush hit her square on as she realized she was holding up a pair of Teddy's boxers.

"Ack!" she squirmed, dropping the pair and kicking it towards him as he let out a laugh and leant back on the couch, smiling to himself as she stared at the underwear cautiously.

"They aren't going to _bite _you." he snorted, raising an eyebrow. "But I get can sweats or something if you want." he said, a flicker of self-confidence fading in his facade. Something about the way he looked at her then as if he'd gone too far with the joke was enough to make her give her head a shake. She glared at him and snatched back the boxers.

"Turn around." she ordered, and he let loose a final eyeroll before spinning in his seat to face the wall. Hastily, Victoire removed her rain soaked pants, peeling the worn fabric off her legs. Once they hit the open air they immediately spotted out in goosebumps. Not wanting to risk a moment that could embarrass the both of them forever if something went off, she decided not to remove her underwearand slipped Teddy's dry boxers on overtop of them. She reached back towards him quickly and grabbed the shirt he'd brought down- a soft grey sweater that he usually wore around the school on weekends or holidays when he didn't feel like getting fully changed. It used to be his father's she knew, and it had patches sewn into the elbows where holes had been worn through the fabric as time took its toll on them. She pulled off her muddy Quidditch robes as well as the two layered tops she wore underneath and dropped them on the ground below her so the fire could warm them up and possibly dry them off in the process. She cast a glance towards Teddy who still had his back faced to her and wondered what someone would think if they were to walk in on the two of them just then. Him, dressed for a slumber party; all tee shirts and cocoa. Her, wearing nothing but her bra and a pair of her best friend's boxers. She flushed at the thought and pulled the sweater hastily over her head. The moment her brow popped out of the neck hole she saw him turn away hastily.

"Hey, I said no peeking!" she said, pulling down the rest of the sweater as he turned around to face her.

"You were done anyway." he said, re-adjusting himself on the couch just as she did.

"You didn't know that." she said, the sleeves of the sweater falling way past her wrists so just the tips of her fingers poked out.

"True." he agreed, giving her a cocky grin accompanied by a devilish glint to his eye. "But it's not like it's something I've never seen before."

"Okay, I am not going into those conversation topics with you this late at night." she said, getting a laugh out of Teddy as he picked a marshmallow out of her hot chocolate and popped it in his mouth. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip for a brief second and she had to fight the urge to lean forwards and do it for him.

"Your face looks better." he noted, shaking her out of her daze and causing her to kick herself back to the topic at hand. She was sitting on the couch, talking to her best friend. They were drinking _cocoa_ for Merlin's sake, not shoving their tongues down each other's throats. _Get it together, Victoire_. She thought to herself.

"Your hair could use a little help though." he added, smirking as she raised her eyebrows in accusation.

"You're one to talk!" she said, leaning a bit closer on the couch to get in on the heat that seemed to be radiating off of him. "You don't even own a hairbrush."

"I do so." he said, reaching over to pick at a tress of her hair. He held it up between them, the silvery blonde lock gleaming in the firelight. "They told me Veela descendants don't get bad hair days." she smiled, tugging at a knot.

"Well, compared to other people I'd say they don't." Teddy said, sliding up towards her so the two of them faced each other cross legged on the couch. "But maybe you're the exception. I always figured you had a bit of banshee in you."

"Funny, I always took you for a grindylow look alike yourself." she quipped, not letting a beat in between banter.

"Ouch." he smiled. "My people take that personally." he put a hand over his heart, feigning offence. "We grindylows are a sensitive bunch."

"Well you ought to be, your rights are so unfair." she smiled. Teddy raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer. "Our _rights?_" he repeated, giving her a look dripping with curiosity.

"Yes." she said, trying her hardest to hold back a smile. "The ones that don't allow you to keep a decent haircut." she said, feeling the corners of her mouth twitch before she burst into a fit of giggles.

"Oh we're back to that again are we?" Teddy said, leaning forwards to poke at her. She laughed and reached out to shove him away playfully, but he caught her arm and pulled her towards him.

"Who'll help you now once a grindylow's got you?" he said, poking her sides so that all her nerves buzzed as she squirmed and laughed against him. "No, no!" she beamed, squirming to get away but his grip was too solid. "Too much!" she laughed, squirming. "Careful, I- ow!"

A bolt of pain shot through her ankle as she bumped it on the side table. Immediately the two of them froze where they were, instantly making the position more than awkward. Teddy was nearly on his back while Victoire had somehow in an attempt to escape him, had managed to get on top of him. They were still on the couch and one of her hands was still pressed firmly to his chest, the other one held loosely in his own. Their faces couldn't have been more than inches apart. Victoire could feel his breath light on her neck and the steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath her fingers.

"You okay?" he asked, his voice quieter then she would have expected.

"Yeah." she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. Suddenly there was a clunk, and the two of their eyes shot towards the source of the sound, their faces almost brushing up against each other they were so close.

On the floor beside them, one of the mugs had tipped over and the creamy brown liquid was seeping into the rug on the floor.

"Shit!" Victoire said, jumping up and pulling out her wand. She thought she heard Teddy make a slightly disappointed sound as she pulled away, but shrugged it off as a sigh of relief for the release of her weight. Drawing out her wand, she quickly muttered a quick spell to clean up the mess. By the time she'd sat up, Teddy was watching her again and the magic that had been in that moment was gone. They faced each other awkwardly.

"It's getting pretty late." she said, glancing towards the clock at the mantel. Outside the moon was nearly full and she could hear owls hooting as they returned from their midnight hunts.

"I should probably be getting back." she said. Teddy stood up from the couch and picked up the towel, not meeting her eyes. It was almost as if he were trying to gather himself together before she left.

_That's ridiculous _she told herself as he turned back to her, all trace of the prior emotion gone and replaced with his usual smile.

"I'll check outside." he said, heading over to the portrait hole and leaving her to pick up the rest of her clothes. Was it just her or did the room suddenly seem colder without him standing there beside her?

With her arms full of still damp clothes, she headed over to the part of the common room where she could see Teddy had disappeared towards the exit. She cast a glance around for him but in the darkness of the room he was nowhere to be seen.

"Teddy?" she whispered into the dark, and jumped when she felt a hand come down on her shoulder.

"Sorry." he said, his face illuminated by the distant glow of the fire as he closed the portrait hole behind him. "Bad news."

Victoire gulped. Images of Professor McGonagall waiting to catch her outside the common room came to mind, but she quickly shook it off. "What is it?"

"Nearly headless." Teddy said, nodding towards the hallway beyond. "He's drifting about out there for some reason and you know how he can be. If he doesn't rat on you, he'll keep you company all the way back to Ravenclaw tower and the noise will wake the baron. You'd be caught for sure."

Victoire felt a drop in her stomach as she glanced nervously towards the hole. "What are we going to do?"

When Teddy didn't answer, she turned her gaze back to him. He was wearing that look he often got when an idea came to him but he didn't always think it best to voice it.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's nothing."

"_Teddy_." she said sternly. "What are you thinking?"

He stood there another beat before casting a final glance towards the door. "Well..."


	30. Wanted You To Know

Clyde awoke the next morning to a jet of sunlight shining in his eyes.

"Mumff..." he groaned, rolling over in his bed and shielding his face from the light. There was a crack in the curtains of his four poster bed letting the sun in, and he kicked out in frustration at the rude awakening. Throwing the covers aside he sat up and stretched, hearing each joint of his spine crack angrily at the movement. Rolling his shoulders to get some warmth into them, he drew back the curtain.

"Gah!" he shouted when the sun hit him full in the face illuminating the sight. He was only in his boxers and socks, his bare chest warm in the sudden light. He yawned and ran a hand through his straw blond hair before pushing himself off the bed and standing tall. It was finally the weekend, but breakfast was still served at the usual time and if he wanted to get a decent start to his day he would have to be getting down to the Great Hall sooner than later. Deciding he'd rather not be alone, he started doing his usual rounds.

"Oi, Sean." he said, pulling back the hangers of the bed closest to his. "Geddup. I want toast."

"Mmffff!" Sean groaned into his pillow, his curling hair puffed up to three times its normal size. "It's the weekend, why do you never _sleep in, dammit_." he complained, rolling onto his back, also barechested.

"Because unlike scrawny gits like you, I need proper breakfast. Now come on, get Jensen up. I don't want to miss bacon."

Clyde turned away to take one sweeping glance over their dorm. Instead of five four poster beds there were only four ever since their old roommate transferred to Durmstrang in their third year. Now the space where his bed used to be was occupied with their ever growing pile of junk. Quidditch posters lined the walls, particularly around Jensen and Teddy's beds. Sean's corner of the room was always the neatest, while Clyde and Teddy usually battled for most destructive corner. This morning however, Teddy had achieved top prize. His curtains were pulled firmly shut and articles of clothing, homework and Quidditch gear lay strewn around the bed. Clyde stepped over a clump of nearly dry clothes that looked oddly like Quidditch gear, but couldn't have been because all Teddy's gear was red, not blue like these robes. Letting the thought fly from his mind as swiftly as it had come, he stepped over a few more piles until his hand wrapped firmly around the scarlet curtain. From the other end of the room he saw Jensen stand and stretch, his flat stomach all the more toned as his plaid pajama bottoms balanced on his hips. Nodding to his friend he gave him a goofy smile and nodded towards Teddy's bed before flinging open the curtains.

"RISE AND SHINE, SUNSHI- WHOA!"

Clyde took a step back from the bed and nearly tripped over the stack of wet clothes, finally placing two and two together as he caught himself on the bureau.

"What the hell is going on-?" Sean asked, turning from his bed and freezing, his jaw unhinged as he stared at the sight before them.

Teddy had bolted up in bed at Clyde's calling, his hair currently a bright flaming pink of embarrassment, sticking up in all directions, his thin shirt rumpled and riding up slightly to reveal his abdomen. But it wasn't Teddy's disheveled state that had disarmed them. It was the blond head peaking out blearily from under the covers at the boys around her, her eyes puffy from sleep and her hair a wicked mess. Slowly, realization dawned in her eyes and he let out a "Meep!" before ducking back under the covers in embarrassment.

"Victoire Weasley!" Clyde called, standing up tall and letting out a laugh as Jensen's face split into a grin and he came forward to inspect the truth on his own. "You better be ready to explain yourself, young lady!"

But before he could say another word Teddy reached over and yanked the hangings back into place, earning them a second of privacy, however momentarily.

Clyde's laughter echoed through the room as Victoire sat up straight the moment the curtains were pulled back. She had the blanket pulled up to her chin, her eyes wide and alert, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "_Shit." _she said, running a hand through her tattered hair, glancing over at Teddy. He was sitting up like her, his hair still a wildly bright pink, head tilted down. He seemed like he was trying to gather his thoughts but there was something worrisome about the look in his eyes, something she couldn't place. Last night when he'd suggested she take his bed for the night and that he sleep in the common room, she had denied him openly. She wasn't quite sure why, but the thought of sleeping in Teddy's bed _without _him off set her more then she would have thought. "We can share." she'd said stubbornly, blushing slightly at the grin he'd given her. "I don't take up much room." She'd slept in the clothes he'd lent her, breathing in the smell of Teddy all night long. She'd woken up suddenly a few hours after they'd snuffed the candle, not knowing where she was at first. But when she rolled over and saw him sleeping beside her she'd gotten such an amazing feeling she had had no trouble going back to sleep, the warmth of his body beside her making it all the more easier.

Now though, all the warmth from the previous night had disappeared. The morning was cold and bleak. Victoire could feel the ice in the room biting into her fingers as they gripped the blanket awkwardly and the fact that Teddy wasn't meeting her gaze didn't do much to help her confidence that what they'd done was a good idea.

"Teddy." she said, trying to get his attention. It seemed to work because he immediately blinked and looked away.

"Come on out you two, let us see the lovely couple!" Clyde called from outside, his cackle slightly muffled by the curtains.

"I'll get you the invisibility cloak." Teddy said quickly, the words almost a mumble as he took his feet off the bed. His hand was just about to pull back the curtains when Victoire reached out to touch him.

"Hey." she said, her fingers curling around his shoulder softly, feeling the faint warmth in the tense muscle. "Are you okay?"

He didn't move at first, but when she crawled over to lean her shoulder into him, he turned his head to look at her. His gaze was neutral. There was no emotion in them, but what he said next send chills through her, whether good or bad she couldn't tell.

"I'd always imagined waking up next to you would be different." he said, his voice strained with the effort of holding back. His words had taken her so off guard that she didn't even move when he drew the curtains back and left her on the bed while he went to find the cloak for her.

By the time she'd reached the Ravenclaw common room, the school had finally woken up and started buzzing. She'd managed to slip past the door by answering the riddle softly under the invisibility cloak, but now that she was in the common room it was going to be another matter sneaking into her dormitory unnoticed. Dodging numerous Ravenclaws, she weaved her way across the circular common room, sidestepping drowsy students and trying not to trip over books and cups that had been left out from the night before. Finally she stumbled up the stairs to the girls rooms, pressing up against the wall at one point as not to be knocked down by a herd of scurrying third years. Once she reached the door to her dorm, it didn't occur to her to be cautious upon entering, and instead she swung open the door and slammed it behind her, letting the cloak slide off her shoulders and drop to the floor.

Things seemed to slow down to normal speed then, and she felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion even though she couldn't remember the last time she'd slept as well as she did beside Teddy that night. With him beside her she'd felt so... safe. So secure. It was like her whole life she'd been sleeping with only half of herself and for that one night she felt finally whole. Leaning back so her shoulders hit the door, she let out a sigh. The tension slowly seeped from her shoulders and her knees trembled beneath her. She staggered across the room to her bed, falling facedown on the comforter and letting out a groan as her body melted into the warmth. She closed her eyes and almost begged for sleep to come, but she couldn't shake the memory of Teddy's expression when she'd left his dormitory. He hadn't even bothered to hand her the invisibility cloak, had merely drawn back the curtains to the bed and thrown it in to her. By the time she'd slid it on, he was too busy being held victim to his friend's mockery to see her out. Not that he could see her anyway.

Rolling onto her back, she pulled Teddy's sweater up over her nose and breathed in deeply. Even though she'd spent a night in it, it still smelled like him. Of mint and cedar, cold mornings and broom polish all mixed in with that dominating smell that was Teddy Teddy Teddy... She closed her eyes and breathed in again, imagining she was with him now. Still in his bed except this time the smell wasn't coming from his sweater. It was coming from him, and he had his arms wrapped around her, his hair tickling her face-

The door slammed open loud enough to wake the dead and Victoire immediately leapt up in bed. She bounced off the springs so hard she soared a good three feet off the bed before crashing down again in a ridiculously ungraceful heap, all in time to see a seemingly livid Ginger standing in the doorway. She was staring at her with a look so full of rage that Victoire almost shrank underneath it.

"Morning." Toire squeaked, shrinking further into Teddy's sweater. Ginger stayed stone still, the door to their dorms closing slowly behind her. Finally when the latch clicked, there was a great sigh and Ginger seemed to deflate in front of her.

"Do you have any idea..." she said, her voice laced with exhaustion. "...how worried I was about you?"

Toire's eyes widened and she poked her head out of the sweater slightly. "Sorry?"

"Where the hell were you?" Ginger asked, her voice angry. "Merlin Toire, I thought you'd been kidnapped or something! I hear about how you took this huge injury in Quidditch so I make tea and wait up for you just to have you never show! I thought you might have hurt yourself coming back or something!"

"Oh, Ginge." Victoire said, her face falling as she saw how upset her friend was. She pushed herself off the bed and walked over to her best friend. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She hugged her and Ginger let out a frustrated sniffle, wiping her eyes angrily. "I should have sent an owl or something, I'm so stupid."

"Yes, you are." Ginger said, but her voice was softer this time. "Can't believe you were fine the whole time..."

"Sorry." she said, breaking the hug and looking at her friend, her hands on her shoulders.

"You said that already." Ginger smiled. "But hell, how can I stay mad at you?" Ginger gave her friend a good look over, and suddenly her smile turned to a look of quizzical confusion.

"Toire..." she said, dropping her hands from her friend's shoulders and taking a step back. "...what are you wearing?"

Victoire blanched as she dropped her gaze to her attire. Her feet had been jammed hastily into her Quidditch shoes as she'd left the Gryffindor common room, while she still wore a pair of Teddy's boxers on below his sweater.

"Um..." she trailed off as Ginger's eyebrows lifted higher and higher towards her brow line. "You want the long or short version?"

One long version and a few hours later, Victoire was seated in the library pouring over the notes from her last potions class. They'd been assigned mathematical questions to determine the amount of wormwood that would be needed for their next brew and math had never been Victoire's strong suit. She frowned over the mess of scribbles that she'd been working on for nearly a half hour when she felt a breeze pass by behind her and heard a voice in her ear.

"Trouble in potions?"

He didn't ask to sit down, just pulled out the chair across from her and leaned forward on his elbows, dropping his bag on the floor. His eyes drank her in, traces of mischief hidden between the lashes. For a moment all she could do was gape until finally, she regained herself.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Max Northwick leaned back in his seat, raising his eyebrows in mock alarm. Just like Teddy, he's grown into someone all the more handsome than in his younger years. His hair was cut shorter than when they'd dated but it worked on him, especially when it came to revealing the sharp edges of his cheekbones. As for height, he stood an inch below Teddy- his body slightly more muscular then Teddy's toned, leaner one. Running a hand through his black hair, he played the innocent. "What do you mean?"

"Don't bullshit me here Max. We haven't so much as shared a word with each other since my fourth year, what makes you think I'd even consider giving you a second of my time now?"

"Maybe you feel nostalgic." he mocked, waving a hand as if to throw away her harsh tone. "I know about a good ally out back." he smiled, leaning in further. "What do you say? Wanna have another go for old time's sake?"

"I swear to God, if you don't get up and leave me alone in two seconds I'll hit you with a bat bogey hex so hard your children will feel it."

"My _children _will feel it, how does that work?" he laughed, making her all the angrier. He must have seen her ears turning red because he held up his hands in defence. "All right Weasley, don't get your panties in a bunch. I just figured I'd come and catch up. I hear you made seeker for Ravenclaw, well done there. You never told me you played Quidditch."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me." she said coldly, dropping her eyes back to her potions homework and hoping he would go away.

"I don't doubt it." he said, his mouth still wearing a smirk she wanted to rip off his face. "Must be fun though, to fly in the big leagues with the rest of us. I'm looking forward to seeing how you work that broom." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"You're a pig."

"And you're an angel, isn't that what everyone says?" he smiled. When she didn't reply he reached over and grabbed her paper, turning it to face him so he could see what she was writing.

"Give that back." she said, her voice dripping with rage.

"...not a very smart angel, by the look of this paper." he said, his eyes scanning the scribbles. "You forgot to carry the two. If I were you Weasley, I'd look into hiring a tutor. I could check my schedule if you like. You wouldn't even have to pay me in galleons."

"What do you _want, _Max?" she growled, almost spitting the words. He didn't answer and for a second she thought he was just going to ignore her until he turned the paper round and slid it back to her. "My friend's and I have a little bet going." he said, lowering his voice so she had to concentrate to listen.

"A bet on what?" she asked suspiciously. To that he grinned.

"Just how long it's going to take for Lupin to have his way with you." he said, picking at a cuticle on his left hand.

"What do you mean?" she asked, regretting the question as soon as it slipped out. Max on the other hand, seemed pleased. His eyes narrowed and grin grew as he spoke.

"Just that you've been such a tease to him for so long," he chuckled, continuing to push up his cuticles. "...we figure it's only a matter of time before he loses all control and rapes you."

Victoire felt herself literally speechless. Here was someone she had convinced herself was right for her; someone she had cared for, kissed and shared secrets with, and he was was speaking words that would make a whore blush. How could she have ever brought herself to love someone so cruel?

"Darwin says it'll be at least another couple of months, while Richards guesses it'll happen this summer." Max said, still talking, his words taking on a dull down as he continued to manicure his hands. "Personally I think it's only a matter of weeks before he cracks. So I'd watch out if I were you, Weasley." he finished, looking up to see her reaction. What he saw there must have pleased him because he added, "But hey, maybe you'll enjoy it. Rumor in the castle is you gave your virginity to some french whore last summer. I'm not one to judge promiscuity, I just wish you hadn't waited so long. I would've liked a piece at least, or is it not too late?"

"One more word Northwick, and I'll break every last one of those fingers you seem to love so much."

The shadow fell across the table and Max looked up with a smile. Victoire was still too frozen to move and too embarrassed to face anyone who could have overheard even a second of their conversation.

"Nice of you to show up, Lupin." Max beamed, sliding the chair back from the table to stand. "I was just talking to your girlfriend here, but she doesn't give much to the conversation. Must be a side effect of those french STDs, eh?"

Teddy stood just taller than Max, but as they faced each other it was clear that Teddy was far nearer to losing his cool then anyone would have liked. Surprisingly though, he delivered his next lines with an air of coolness.

"You're one to talk Max. How're the herpes treating you? I hear Trinity's a banshee in the sack." He paused. "But now that I think about it, I didn't hear it from you."

For the first time, Victoire caught a crack of anger break through Max's facade and her heart warmed a corner more.

"How many is that she's fucked this year?" Teddy asked softly, leaning in so he faced the Slytherin head on, suddenly the height difference becoming increasingly noticeable. Max had developed a nasty twitch under his left eye and his jaw was locked tighter than she'd ever seen. "I heard it was practically your whole house." he continued, his gaze never faltering. "That's gotta be a new school record... or just under the one your mother set when she went here."

Victoire noticed Max's fist clench the second before it flew and she opened her mouth to cry, "Ted-!"

Teddy caught the punch head on, his fingers closing around Max's hand so tightly she swore he must have nearly broken his fingers. Max was nearly shaking by the time Teddy shoved his hand back towards him. "If you ever so much as think about speaking to her again, I'll cause you so much pain you'll be begging for that slut you call a girlfriend to come nurse you back to health." Teddy said, his voice softer and deadlier than Victoire had ever heard before. Max reached for his bag and as he swung it over his shoulder he gave Teddy a look so loathsome that even Victoire could feel it. "Have fun with your tease." Max spat, shoving past Teddy so their shoulders banged, and yet Teddy's face remained motionless. "I hear all the Weasleys come second hand." Max said before slamming the door to the library behind him.

Neither of them spoke as the situation set in. Victoire still couldn't quite wrap her head around Max's calls and accusations. They were ridiculous... but...

Was she really a tease? She'd been friends with Teddy her whole life and nothing had come out of their relationship romantically, even though she felt as if she were falling head over heals for him. Was it possible that he could feel the same way? Or was it just attraction and she was leading him on. If he was even attracted to her in the first place!

She brought a hand to her forehead and tried to shake the feeling she was getting, just as Teddy stepped up and took the chair Max had previously been sitting in. The throbbing in her head was getting hard to ignore. She could feel Teddy's eyes boring into her but she still refused to meet them.

"Hey..." he said, and her eyes flickered up to catch a glimpse of his face, conflicted with frustration and concern. "Are you okay?"

It took her a beat to speak up but finally she did. "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine." she said hastily, grabbing her notes from across the table and stuffing them in her bag.

"Victoire..."

"No, really." she said, flashing him a smile she hoped didn't look as fake as it felt. From the reaction on his face she guessed that it did. "I'm great. He's an asshole, right? I get it. Nothing to listen to."

He didn't speak up to stop her, but she could feel his eyes follow her as she shrugged on her jacket and looped the bag over her shoulder. "Look, I've really gotta go finish this paper but I'll see you at dinner okay?" she said, still avoiding his eyes. Without waiting for a response she turned around and made for the door, but not before she heard him call her name a final time. Pretending she couldn't hear him, she let her feet carry her out into the corridor and away from the mess she'd left behind.

All evening she couldn't shake the words he'd said to her. _You've been such a tease to him for so long..._ No matter how many times she told herself it wasn't true she always ended up questioning it. _I never meant to be, _she thought. At least that much was true. But all that flirting, the banter, especially agreeing to sleep in his _bed _the previous night... what else could it be seen as? They were far too old to write it off as childish fun. When you were teenagers, even the slightest of nothings meant something.

"Why so glum, chum?" Marcy asked that night as they sat around the Gryffindor common room. Teddy and Jensen were absent due to quidditch practice and Sean and Clyde had retreated back to their dormitory to finish a long put off Herbology essay in peace, leaving just the girls to gaze into the crackling flames. "Still lost in memories of turquoise hair?" she joked. Victoire had told Marcy a shortened version of the night's prior events but the message was still the same. Usually Victoire would have laughed at the jab, but tonight it was all she could do not to wince. At dinner that night she'd sat as far down from Teddy as she could without seeming rude at their table, and yet she'd still caught him throwing glances at her throughout the meal. Ginger had managed to pick up on her friend's mood and slowly placed down her mug of tea.

"Everything alright Toire?" she asked, a hint of cautiousness ot her voice.

Victoire opened her mouth, her _I'm fine _poised at the ready and yet, she hesitated. What was the point of loyal friends if you couldn't tell them your troubles? Swallowing the words she'd been preparing before, she cast her gaze down to the mug in her own hands; one that was still full to the brim with tea gone cold.

"Do you think I'm a tease?"

By this point Marcy had caught on to her friend's distress and was staring at her, her mouth slightly open at the question. "Why would you ask something like that?" she said, surprise still evident on her face.

When Victoire didn't answer, Ginger spoke up.

"To me a tease is a girl who flaunts herself in front of copious amounts of boys." she stated placidly. "Someone who flashes too much skin in order to make people want her more. Someone who's suggestive and full of themselves." She picked up her drink again and took a long gulp, so long in fact that Victoire was surprised she didn't burn her throat. When she was finished, she met her friend's mopey gaze with a hard look of her own. "It's someone who leads you on with no intention of letting you have them. You Victoire, are none of those things."

'Where did this come from?" Marcy asked, tucking her legs underneath her to get more comfortable. Victoire shook her head. "Just someone someone brought up today."

"Someone called you a tease?" Marcy frowned, her eyes angry. "Who was she, I'll kick her teeth in." Victoire let slip a small smile.

"It's nothing, really." she sighed, glancing down at her tea. Ginger was right. Victoire wasn't a slut. She didn't dress provocatively, didn't show interest in other guys, wasn't _ridiculously _vain and only had her occasional diva days. So what if she flirted with Teddy? Was she not allowed to show interest in the boy she'd had feelings for practically her whole life? And besides, she _definitely _had no intention of not going after Teddy.

"There's the face I recognize." Ginger smiled from her seat on the sofa. Without realizing it, Victoire noticed she was smiling. Murmuring a warming spell under her breath, suddenly her tea was piping hot again and she cozied up against the chair. Thinking back to the library she recalled how calm Teddy had been when defending her against Max and how quickly he'd caught his punch. All of a sudden she found it wasn't just the tea and the fire that was making her so hot. And with this realization came something she knew she had to do.

Teddy was grateful for the lack of rain that night. Practice had gone smoothly as usual. He'd had the team run some old drills he'd had Harry send over from his days as Quiddich captain and they'd turned out to work better than he'd expected. With the exception of Katy Thomas getting distracted by her boyfriend wandering onto the pitch to watch and accidentally flying into one of the goal posts, the practice had been their best yet all year. It would have been a beautiful night if he could have been able to shake Victoire from his head.

When he'd found her in the library earlier he knew something was wrong. The obvious point of it being that she was sitting with Max Northwick, and the second bit was the look on her face. Like she'd just swallowed something sour and had been given news about a death in the family at the same time. To say scaring Northwick off was sweet would have been accurate if Toire hadn't still seemed so disturbed for the rest of the day. Even at dinner she looked troubled, staring into her mashed potatoes with a sad thoughtfulness she only ever got when something miserable had happened that day.

It had also completely ruined his mood from the start. Right after that morning when Clyde had woken them up he'd felt like an idiot. The look on Toire's face when he'd kicked her out of bed... he knew she had taken it personally. He was just disappointed, that's all. Disappointed, sad, embarrassed... when she'd pressed herself up against him before he left he had to do all in his power not to moan at the feel of her; all soft curves and warm skin and whispers in the dark. In an ideal world he would have turned to her right then, told her to stay where she was, to wrap her arms around him and sleep.

But this was Hogwarts, and no matter what his godfather said, it wasn't always the perfect place.

He was almost at the common room now, not having bothered to change out of his robes, his broom swung lazily over his shoulders. Jensen had stayed behind to take a shower, leaving him to walk up on his own. Once he reached the fat lady she was snoring loudly and he had to clear his throat a few times to wake her up. Disgruntled and yawning she unwillingly accepted the password before swinging forwards and drifting off again even though Teddy had warned her that other students would be following him up soon.

The common room was silent when he entered, the last glow of a fire still emitting soft crackles from the hearth. Running a hand through his bright teal hair he cast a glance around the room before taking a step towards his dorm-

"Teddy?"

He started at the sound and turned towards the voice. When he came upon the source he felt his stomach clench and release, trying to keep his face neutral at what he saw when really it would have driven him wild.

Victoire was sitting on the couch by the fire, seeming to have just woken up. Her hair was a rumpled mess, her eyes wide and blue in the reflection of the firelight. Her lips, _Merlin, her lips, _looked just as soft as he imagined they'd feel.

"Hi." he said, the surprise of seeing her there coming through in his voice. He swung his broom off his shoulders and took a step towards her, taking the seat beside her on the couch when she moved to offer it to him. Propping the broom against the side of the armrest, he found for the first time that day he was too shy to meet her gaze. Mentally kicking himself, he opened his mouth to say something and wanted to punch himself even harder at what came out.

"You snore." he said, sounding calmer then he felt.

Clearly this wasn't the grand conversation piece she had expected, but she laughed all the same and he felt himself smile knowing he could still make her happy, if only for a second.

"I've been told." she replied, cutting her eyes towards him and giving him that devilish Victoire Weasley grin he had so gotten used to. "Though you're not much better."

"How so?" he scoffed, leaning back to look at her fully.

"You talk in your sleep." she smirked, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Random musings. I could barely understand it." she chuckled, getting a smile out of both of them.

"I'm sorry." They froze and looked at each other, both of them having said the phrase at the same time. Almost identically again they laughed, Victoire snorting into her palm while Teddy smirked at the similarities.

"For what?" he asked her first. "You didn't do anything."

"Exactly." she said, her voice taking on a more serious note. "You completely defended me back there and I didn't even say thank you. I was a complete twat all day, even after you verbally fucked Max up earlier. Which was amazing, by the way." she said. Was he imagining it or did he see her blush? It must have just been him, and yet... her cheeks were still pink.

"Well I'm sorry too." he said, hoping to distract himself from wanting to kiss her again. "For this morning."

"I seem to remember that being Clyde's fault." she said, raising an eyebrow.

"He might have woken us up, but I was the one who kicked you out." he said, dropping his eyes to his lap. "It was... stupid of me. Rude, I mean."

She was staring at her closed hands locked together but her face bore a smile. "You could never be stupid to me Teddy." she said softly, and this time he knew he saw the blush. As if she had realized what she had just said, she stood up from the couch rather suddenly.

"What is it?" he asked, oblivious to her glances towards the portrait hole.

"I think someone's coming. I should be getting back."

"Oh yeah..." he said, disappointed. He didn't quite want to admit it but he had hoped that maybe he would be able to lie a second night in a row about Mrs. Norris in the hallway in order to get her to stay. Turns out he'd have no such luck.

She had reached the portrait door and had swung it open, one foot on the edge of the hole ready to leave when she turned back to him. Something in her face showed she was dealing with almost conflicting emotions and he waited expectantly for her to say something.

"I haven't been completely... truthful with you." she said finally, surprising him. He squinted his eyes, curiosity deepening inside him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, resting a hand on the handle of his broom.

"Last week after tryouts..." She was gnawing on her lip like she always did when she was having trouble with telling the truth. "when you were trying to prove how well you knew me. Well, you got something wrong."

"Yeah, I know." he said, something in his chest stirring. "You told me."

"Right. I did." she said, seemingly at war with herself. "So technically it wasn't a lie..."

"Toire, I don't-"

"I have lied to my dad before. Once or twice." she interrupted. A piece of wood in the fireplace snapped as it burned and echoed through the silent room.

"Victoire." he said, trying to put two and two together. "You didn't have to-"

"I'm still a virgin." she said bluntly, her eyes locking with his from across the room just as he felt the pounding in his chest pick up to a celebration beat. Outside his head the room was still silent all except for the fire and the clock on the wall, but inside him all he could see were fireworks.

"Why are you telling me this?" he heard himself say, his voice still neutral.

She contemplated the question before putting a hand on the portrait door to help her through.

"I wanted you to know." she said simply, before closing the door behind her just in time so she couldn't see the full fledged smile break out on his face.


	31. Flirt

On the first of November, Kye scheduled Ravenclaw's final practice before their game that weekend at what Victoire considered to be the worst possible time for a practice.

"This is absolutely ridiculous." Alli Sekhon, one of the team's chasers yawned from beside Victoire as they laced up their boots with five minutes to go before Kye wanted them on the field. "Bolton is officially off his head if this is his idea of a focused practice."

"I've got a transfiguration test today." Mannix Fordor sighed miserably. "I was up till two in the morning cramming for it this morning and was all for skipping my first class to sleep in when I remembered this torture."

It was just nearing five in the morning, and the sun hadn't even shown its head yet over the horizon. Out on the pitch faint shadows loomed from the small haze of light that was the only sign of the coming morn, the wind completely still for once giving the air an almost eerie quality. Everything seemed alarmingly bigger in this light Victoire noticed, as the team hobbled their way sleepily out onto the field, looking alarmingly more like a hoard of zombies than Quidditch players. Although there was no wind, November still proved to be biting. The ground crunched beneath their feet and leaves quivered on their branches; every so often a weak one abandoning life and falling to the ground to join the countless others slain by winter.

"Cheer up Ravenclaw!" Kye called from the center of the field where he waited for them, his broom clutched happily in one hand, hair disheveled from sleep. That seemed to be the only clue of his resting though because all signs of exhaustion, gloominess or even bags under the eyes were absent and instead they were faced with an almost obnoxiously cheery captain. Once the group had gathered around him grumbling silently to themselves and each other, he clapped his hands together with pride.

"Well!" he smiled, taking a look around at his half-alive resembling players. "Our match with Slytherin is this weekend- that's only three days away! It's the first game of the season so we can imagine the crowd'll be nice and rowdy for a good show. And from how you've all been playing these past few weeks I suspect you'll give 'em one!"

He paused as if he expected a good natured cheer to go up from the group as they shared the good fortune of their talents and perhaps marveling at the mastery of his coaching. Instead, he was faced with a stony silence of shivering students, eager to return to their warm beds before they were required to be at classes. "Right." he said, smile falling as he rolled his eyes and mounted his broom. "Well if you're all going to be like that let's just run the same thing as last week people. Drill number eight, keep it coming."

They practiced hard. It didn't take long before the wind did in fact pick up and wake them all from their daze, and once it did it seemed like they were unstoppable. The chasers had all developed such a rhythm; all of them having clicked practically just after tryouts, that they seemed to know just where they would be and when so that by the end of practice Nelly Daravan didn't even have to look as she passed the quaffle to Mannix, him catching it was such confident swiftness that Victoire couldn't imagine anyone catching up to him, especially someone so clumsy as one of the Slytherin chasers.

Her stomach twisted just thinking about them still. It had been almost a month since her run in with Max in the library and he hadn't so much as batted an eye at her since, although she couldn't help but wonder if that was because Teddy had suddenly started hanging about so much more. Ever since that night in the Gryffindor common room, he'd been staying even closer to her between classes, whether they were just hanging out as a group, going over homework or exchanging Quidditch advice. It was nice, she'd noticed, to have him there. She had been so relieved after they'd gotten over the awkwardness of that night they'd slept together and moved on the being friends...

_But how long will you have to be friends? _she asked herself for the hundredth time as she circled the pitch and dive bombed in the places Kye had marked on the field. He'd had her practicing this routine for weeks now so she could be able to ascend or descend from any angle at a moments notice with ease if necessary to catch the snitch. The drill had been working so well that she had shamefully suggested it to Teddy to try out on his own seeker, Jenny Mortemor. When he reported back with news that Jenny wasn't quite grasping it as quickly as he'd hoped, she couldn't help but feel pleased and excited for when she could show off on her own with Teddy watching from the sidelines. The Slytherin game was set to be held for the coming Saturday, while the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match would go on the following week. All four teams had apparently been training harder than ever while a wave of excitement surged through the school as the games drew nearer. There was almost constant talk of Quidditch in the air now as the players finishe their final touches. For the first time in several decades, the captains of every house team were all in their seventh year at Hogwarts, and all of them were quite well known individuals throughout the school. Teddy of course was instantly liked and recognizable by all from his hair and laid back attitude. This had been Teddy's way from day one and although it still bothered her a bit at the number of girls who's eyes followed him down the hall each day, she had promised herself to keep silent on the matter. After all, she was one of those girls too. Max was pretty much just as popular as Teddy and their now "legendary" battle on the Quidditch pitch in Victoire's fourth year was still fresh in everyone's memories. It was known to all that the two didn't get along, to put it lightly, and the Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry was always one for the traditionalists. The students were practically squirming for another fight.

Meanwhile off to the side but still going strong was Kye. Opinions on him were quite varied, Victoire found, hearing things such as "He's the nicest guy" to "He never shuts up and it's driving me crazy" on the subject of house's team captain. Personally Victoire thought he was alright, but it was true. He certainly did like the sound of his own voice, and was always one to "push his team", even when he might have pushed them too far.

And then finally on the edges of it all was the Hufflepuff captain. The only girl in the running, one would think that Hannah Welsh would feel intimidated by the testosterone on the field, but from what Victoire had heard of her, it was the complete opposite.

"It's been too long since Hufflepuff's won the cup, and I plan to start a new record." she'd been overheard telling her team during their tryouts. "Personally I'm not going to let a chatter box, a glory hound and a man whore steal away our victory." she'd smiled to the group as they cheered her on. "This is our time!"

Although Victoire had never spoken to Hannah in person, she had to admit she definitely didn't seem like someone to mess with. Popular among Hufflepuffs, she was around Victoire's height and wore her thick chestnut hair loose, even when playing Quidditch it was heard. She was known to be a good sport, always honest and in for a good game- but her competitiveness had sent more than one rival player to the hospital wing in her history of the game. Coincidentally, she also happened to play seeker for the team, so Victoire couldn't help but wonder how it would play out when they met on the field at last.

Practice finally wrapped up around six thirty and as Victoire carried her broom back into the school waving goodbye to her teammates, she noticed she still had a full half an hour until the castle would really start to wake up. She was freezing from the cold and her robes clung to her skin thanks to a wet tumble in the morning dew. Walking through the empty corridors she took the stairs two at a time to reach Ravenclaw tower. When she finally arrived at the fifth floor, she was shivering more than she would have liked and her broom seemed to be getting heavier and heavier with in oncoming exhaustion. I wasn't until passed the statue of Boris the Bewildered that she decided what she was going to do.

Counting the doors backwards from the statue she finally landed on the fourth one, a plain grey door identical to the hundreds that lined the walls of the castle. Stepping up to it and inspecting it wearily, she readjusted the grip on her broom before leaning forward and speaking to the door;

"Pinefresh."

The door clicked and she watched as it opened a smidge, smiling to herself as she pushed forward. It was about time she used the prefect perks to her advantage.

Stepping through the door, she was faced with a small changing room lined with thick marble pillars. There were cubby holes for clothing and belongings around the walls as well as a large stack of plush white towels lined up beside the archway that led towards the bath. Victoire approached the cubbies all while looking around in a mixed sort of wonder. If her uncle had been telling the truth, this was the room that he had figured out the clue to the second task of the Tri Wizard tournament in his time. Looking upward as she undressed, she took in the delicate arched ceiling and the slanted windows which let in the light that illuminated the space aside from the candles on the walls. Stripping off her the rest of her damp Quidditch robes, she did her best to fold them while standing barefoot on the cool stone in nothing but her underwear. Looking around awkwardly and hoping no one would walk in on her, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it round her body, deciding not to take the risk of being caught naked and bathe in her underwear instead. She reached up to pull the elastic out of her hair when she heard the noise. Her hand froze above the tie, her eyes widening and heartbeat picking up. There was no mistaking it. She had heard a splash from the bath.

_This is a bad idea, _she thought to herself as she contemplated what to do next. Pulling the elastic out slowly, she held her towel closer as she tiptoed towards the archway. She couldn't just leave without checking who was spoiling her morning fun. Besides, maybe it was someone she knew who wouldn't mind sharing the bath...

She approached the arch as the splashing grew louder and looked through the space into the bath- feeling her heart drop into her stomach.

Through the door swimming laps in the huge pool was the last person she would have expected to be awake this early in the morning, let alone _taking a bath_. But never the less, she couldn't help but let her mouth drop open slightly as she oogled at Teddy's lean body, cutting ripples through the water.

Ducking back behind the arch way she held her breath as the situation registered.

She was hiding in the prefects bathroom, practically naked, while Teddy swam unknowing of her presence, almost definitely naked.

_Merlin, what am I going to do... _she thought, the panic kicking in. And then, almost like she was standing right beside her, Victoire heard Fifi's voice in her head.

_Don't be stupid Victoire, did we spend a whole summer teaching you nothing! _

Toire shook her head to get rid of the voice, but Fifi spoke more truth than foolishness.

_You told us you had feeling for him, now here's your chance to do something about it!_

_She's right, _Victoire thought, and then kicked herself for acting so strangely. She'd been acting completely normal around Teddy for practically the whole year. It was time to actually _do _something to let him know how she felt. She could either sneak back to the change room, get back into her wet clothes and return to the Ravenclaw common room defeated, _or..._

Teddy took another gulp of air as his arms cut through the water, propelling himself forwards and then back as he pushed off the sides of the pool-like tub. Yet another morning had brought him early awakenings, so he'd dealt with it in the most relaxing way he'd known how. Take a swim.

There had been no one in sight of the castle as he'd made his way to the bathroom and he hadn't even bothered to look out the window as he left the common room. If he had he would have been able to see the Ravenclaw team working hard, but his mind had been elsewhere.

Now he continued his strokes, feeling the water slide off his skin and run over his fingers as they parted the pool. He was just about to start another lap when suddenly he heard a noise from the front of the room. Like someone was deliberately clearing their throat to get his attention. He stopped at the end of the pool and turned towards the noise; the sight meeting him there the complete opposite of what he'd expected.

Victoire was barefoot, her legs smooth, pale, and seemed to go on for days. As his eyes traveled upwards they coasted over the single white towel that covered her body- his mind jumped at the fact that she was naked, but then he noticed the bra straps peeking over her shoulders. Finally his eyes passed her collarbones and the curve of her neck to rest at her face; full lips, wide eyes and freckles on a milky complexion. In the muggle world she could have been a model, but in his world she was simply Victoire.

"You picked an odd time to go for a swim." she said, an easy smile forming on her lips as she stepped forward to the edge of the pool. He ran a hand through his wet hair and smiled up at her, standing fully in the water. He caught her eyes drifting lower to his midriff and then to the hem of his dark boxers which were currently soaked through. Thankfully he'd had the good sense to keep them on in the case of situations like this one.

"Well considering the temperature and the hibernation patterns of the giant squid, I figured the lake was pretty much out of the question." he replied, feeling his boxers slid lower off of his hips and watched as Victoire's gaze followed them as they went. When he caught her looking, a faint blush covered her cheeks which boosted his ego all the more as he swam towards the edge. As he moved closer she dipped her legs into the water and sat comfortably on the side, the towel still wrapped around her torso. Her legs on the other hand were stretched out before her and he couldn't help his eyes from drifting toward them.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked her, leaning a toned arm against the edge of the pool as she looked down at him from her perch, wearing a smile and sultry eyes.

"Quidditch practice actually." she said. "Got to ruin the Slytherins on saturday or all that talk in the library between you and Max Douchenozzle Northwick will have gone to waist."

Although hearing Victoire use the term "Douchenozzle" did make him smile, he couldn't help but feel a flash of anger as he remembered the scene from the library.

"Look, Toire..." he said, his face growing serious. "I don't know what he said to you in there, but if you still feel like he needs an ass kicking or something-"

"Believe me Teddy, you impressed me enough in the library." she said, interrupting him. The way she looked at him now... he could hardly describe the feeling. No one had ever connected with him as much as Toire did, and now with the two of them so close (and with so little clothes on for that matter), it had never felt so real. "Also, I've been planning my own asskicking for the game on Saturday. So if you really want to see some action, I suggest you show up."

"I wouldn't miss it." he smiled, swallowing intently as he watched her remove the towel to reveal her body underneath just as she slipped into the pool. She sighed with pleasure as the water touched her, and he felt something of his own stir below the waves.

"Good." she said, distracting him from his own. "Because I'd miss you if you did." She gave him a glance up through her eyelashes, running her fingers along the surface of the water. "A lot."

Teddy could feel his pulse starting to catch up. Something was different with Victoire, and although he couldn't quite put a finger on it he knew one thing. He liked it. If she was going to act like this, he could do the same. Two could play at that game.

"You know..." he said, leaning back against the side of the pool, watching as she waded out into the middle of it, the ends of her hair growing darker where it soaked in the water. "... if I didn't know you better I'd say you were flirting with me."

As soon as the words left his mouth he saw her tense, but because her back was to him he didn't know if he'd said something wrong or if it was something else. It wasn't until she turned around slowly to give him one of her judging stares that he knew it had to be the latter.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" she questioned accusingly, raising an eyebrow in a way that reminded him uncannily of Hermione. "If you didn't _know me_ better?" He smiled at the way he got under her skin before pushing away from the wall to get closer to her.

"Oh, nothing." he smiled, loving the feeling of her continuous stare. "...just that you're not really the sort of girl to come on to someone."

He watched the expression on her face change from one of shock, so one of embarrassment and then one of conniving expression. "I can flirt!" she argued, pressing forward although he made no move to back away.

"Sure you can." he smiled sarcastically, raising an eyebrow to humor her. Her mouth dropped in a manner of disbelief. "I can't believe you." she scoffed, her voice only half annoyed. "Just because you're my best friend doesn't mean you know everything about me. I thought we'd already cleared that up."

He let out a laugh. "Fine, O master of seduction." he grinned, bowing in her direction. "If you're so amazing at tempting the opposite sex..." He bit his lip before he revealed what he meant to say next. "...then show me."

He expected her to blush, maybe raise a brow or roll her eyes but instead her reaction was instant.

"Oh pfft." she said, brushing the idea away with a wave of her hand, and before he could press on to convince her to go forward with it, she changed the subject. "By the way, when did all this happen?" she asked him, flicking water in his general direction. He frowned slightly, confused by what she meant and finally, there was the eyeroll, a few beats too late.

"What?" he asked, still watching her, confused.

"Oh come on, you know..." she said, waving her arm in the general direction of his torso. "_That._"

Finally catching on, he couldn't help but let out a laugh. She was actually checking him out, and not being discreet about it either. Not only did it totally boost his confidence but... it was kind of turning him on.

"Um, I dunno." he smiled, running a hand over his flat stomach. "Fifth year maybe? Quidditch does that to you." he smiled, watching as she continued to stare.

"Yeah, but..." she dropped off the sentence briefly to come even closer. He didn't move as she sidled up only inches away from him, her eyes searching hungrily over his chest. "...you've got like, a six pack..."

He swallowed, feeling himself stirr at the thought of being so close to her with so much privacy and so little clothes. "Well, it happens." he said, forcing himself to speak.

"Or is it an eight pack..." she continued, seemingly ignoring his last phrase, and then to Teddy's total shock, she reached out with two fingers and placed them on his top two abs.

"Two, four, six..." she counted, running her fingers slowly down his stomach, curving over each ridge of muscles as she numbered off while Teddy stood there frozen, not daring to move, not thinking he could if he'd wanted to. When she reached the bottom of his stomach her fingers hovered for a moment just above his waistline before she sidestepped behind him, her fingers still tracing a line of fire over his skin. He stood there, all nerves at their highest, not understanding why she was acting like this but not wanting her to stop, not now not ever. Her fingers hovered at the top of his spine before traveling over the muscles and tracing it down to the dimples in his lower back, sending the jolt of a shiver down his body. He heard her chuckle softly from behind him.

"And you said I couldn't flirt."

The words seemed to almost break the spell as he regained sense of the situation at hand, his jaw dropping when he'd realized she'd tricked him, his skin still tingling from where her fingers had been. Turning slowly around, he saw that she wore an enormous smile and was blinking her eyes innocently at him as if to show that she'd won the game.

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be now?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow while cracking his knuckles together.

"Yep." she smiled, popping the p and biting her lip to hold in a laugh. It took less than a flash before his arm had whipped out and he splashed her, the spray of water hitting its target head on and soaking her completely through.

She gasped under the drenching, drops sliding down her face and over her body, certain ones lingering on her chest and making him all the more motivated.

"You better _run_." she said, before winding up her arm to get him back.

The water war continued for what must have been at least ten minutes, the two of them diving all around the pool, sending spurts of water at each other from all directions until they were both soaked and pruning as well as the rest of the room. It wasn't until one of the final bursts when Victoire swam in close for the kill, popping out of the water to spray him that he reached out and grabbed her wrist. Instantly the fighting stopped and all they could do was stare. He felt the increased flutter of her pulse beneath his fingers just as she saw the dilation of his pupils. Before either of them could speak, Teddy reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Victoire stared at him, speechless for once... just moments before he dunked her head under the water. There was a loud splash and a huge gasp. Raising sputtering from the pool, she stared at him wide eyed and accusing as he practically keeled over laughing.

"Oh, it's on." she said, wearing the expression that couldn't be judged as anything else other than her game face.

"Bring it." he shot back, smiling.

"I will." she said, stepping up to him so they stood almost chest to chest.

"Looking forward to it." he smiled.

The morning of the Quidditch match dawned early and by the time Teddy made his way to the great hall, all the team's players had already left. He slid in between Ginger and Clyde, helping himself to a piece of toast as the room filled with chatter, nearly all of it directed about the game.

"Morning." Ginger smiled at him, Sean seated on her other side. "That it is." Teddy smiled, while noticing how Sean had been growing all the more closer to Ginger over the past few months ever since that summer. Making a mental note to ask him what happened, he turned the conversation to one he was sure they would expect.

"Seen Toire?" he asked through a mouthful of toast.

"She just left, couldn't have been five minutes ago." Ginger said, nodding to a plate across the table that hadn't cleared itself yet. A bagel and a few measly sausages were all that remained... and all that she had seemed to pick up. "Wasn't hungry?" he asked, thinking back to his first Quidditch match and how nervous he had been.

"You should have seen her this morning." Marcy said from Clyde's other side. "She was shaking so hard she could barely tie her laces."

Teddy felt a twist in his stomach. What Victoire was going through was completely natural of course, but it still bothered him to hear about her so upset.

"So who's your money on today, Jensen?" Clyde asked his other friend who had come down with Teddy.

"Ravenclaw, obviously!" Marcy interrupted, shunning him and shoving his arm. "How could you even ask that?"

"Alright, alright, don't take your nerves out on me woman!" Clyde guffawed, wrapping his arm around Marcy's shoulders and kissing her on the top of the head. Sean glanced up at the clock towards the front of the hall. It was coming up to half past eight.

"We'd best be on our way if we want to get good seats." he suggested as the rest of the group nodded. Dragging back their benches with a screech, Teddy walked along with the crowd as they all headed through the entranceway and out onto the grounds of the school.

Stepping outside he was hit first by the chill. It was colder than usual for early November and he felt a shiver go through him as he pulled his coat tighter. The breeze fluttered at his neck and he crossed his arms for warmth.

"Oh, I almost forgot..." Ginger said, reaching into her bag as the crowd made their way over the hard earth towards the field. "Victoire asked me to give this to you."

From the depths of her bag she produced a blue and bronze ravenclaw house scarf. Teddy couldn't help feel the smile creep onto his face as he took it from her, wrapping it around his shoulders to prevent the cold. It even smelled like her.

_That flirt..._ he thought to himself, remembering the challenge they'd given each other only a few nights before. _She means to take this seriously._ Well that was fine by him. It was almost a blessing having Toire actually want to be closer to him, especially if she was going to be so... _sexy _about it. He thought back to her in the pool and how she'd looked in that moment when he'd brushed back her hair. Like she wanted to be nowhere in the world than there with him in that moment.

After several minutes of pushing and shoving, they finally managed to obtain a full row in the Ravenclaw section of the stands. Looking down the row at his friends, Teddy couldn't help but laugh as he saw Marcy smearing Clyde's face with blue and bronze paint while he grumbled weakly at the patriotism of a house that wasn't his. Ginger wasn't exactly so bold as to do the same to Sean, but he noticed him casting her glances that made him wonder if Sean wished she would.

"You alright?" Jensen asked him, and Teddy turned to look at his friend. They were on good terms, that much was certain, but Teddy hadn't truly been able to look at him the same ever since the day of the Yule Ball. Just the thought of knowing that he'd kissed Toire... kissed her before _him_! Sometimes it was unbearable. He knew Jensen hadn't meant for it to happen and that the two didn't have feeling for each other but...

He gave his head a shake as he tried to clear the jealousy that was forming there.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said, giving his friend a slightly forced smile. "Just worried for her, you know?"

"Yeah." Jensen grinned, slugging him on the arm. "I can tell."

"Shut up." Teddy smirked, shoving him back as the two friends waited out the rest of the minutes, watching the stands fill up. Feeling a final burst of pride for his best friend, he let his hair take on the two shades of her house, catching the attention and laughter of everyone in their section of the stands as they hooted their appreciation for his choice of style.

"Always the center of attention..." Clyde smirked, rolling his eyes as Teddy pumped his fist to the crowd's cheers.

Suddenly there was a blast of a sound as Pierce Jordan's voice echoed out across the field. "-YEAH, YOU WATCH YOURSELF SCUMBAG!" the familiar voice seemed to be yelling at a Slytherin from across the stands when he realized his voice was already being amplified.

"_Jordan_!" came McGonagall's stern growl from somewhere behind him as he blanched and sputtered out an apology before starting the play for the day.

"Welcome again, one and all to the first Quidditch match of the season!" he cried, suddenly all excitement and thrills as the rest of the stadium cheered to echo his mood. "We've got a fantastic game lined up for you today, and with all new captains to boot!" he announced. "Yes, it's Ravenclaw versus Slytherin folks and although the weather may be gloomier than a yeti's backside, the excitement here is electric! We've got practically brand new teams all across the board and a truly riveting play ahead of us this morning!"

There was a mild rumble from down in the field where when the students looked, they could see the large doors leading out onto the pitch opening wide as the players prepared their emerge.

"And here they are!" Jordan announced, leaning forward from his booth to get a better look. "First out are the Slytherins, looking typically grand in their green and silver..."

A roar of cheers erupted from the Slytherin stands, followed by the echoed hissing all around with the exception of some of the Hufflepuffs who had taken sides with their serpent friends.

"Leading on today we've got the chasers. Alexa Richards, Zeena McKinnon and the new Slytherin captain, Max Northwick!"

The crowd continued to go wild from all ends as Teddy scowled down into the field, catching a glimpse of Max looking especially cocky. He just hoped it was more for show than how he actually intended on playing. Pierce continued to list of the players and Teddy watching, wondering how Victoire was doing at that moment. If she was anything like him she was probably feeling about ready to lose what little of her breakfast she had eaten already. He just hoped she'd be able to hold it in until the game was over.

Victoire felt awful.

"Are you okay? You look a little green." Alli Sekhon asked her as Pierce Jordan listed off the names of the Slytherin players, his voice echoing all around the stadium. It was literally only a matter of seconds until they walked onto the field, so all Victoire could do was nod. She had to remind herself that this wasn't a big deal. Alli wasn't in the least bit nervous. She stood just a ways in front of her, bouncing up and down expectedly on her toes as she waited for her name to be called. Then again, this wasn't Alli's first game and she was perfectly used to the thrill.

At least she wasn't the only one feeling nauseous. Glancing over to her left she could see third year Mannix Fordor leaning over with his hands on his knees, taking deep gulps of air to settle his stomach.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen I give you our Ravenclaw team!" Pierce cried as the crowd beyond began to stomp their feet in unison.

"Oh God..." Mannix groaned seconds before his stomach heaved and he let loose the contents of his stomach.

"Ew." Alli managed to laugh while Ree Gorvitch wrinkled her nose in distaste. Victoire could only swallow the bile in the back of her throat and hope it would stay down.

"Chasers!" Pierce boomed just as Alli gave Mannix a shove out the door as he stumbled out into the cold morning light, wiping the vomit off his face with the back of his hand in the process.

"Mannix Fordor, Alli Sekhon..." The Ravenclaws let out a particularly loud cheer. She was a house favorite. "...and Nelly Daravan!" The third girl skipped past Victoire to join the other chasers out on the field as they waved happily to their crowd.

"Beaters!" Pierce announced as the stomping grew louder in anticipation. "Harrison Lee and your new captain, Kye Bolton!" Kye sauntered onto the field, beaming at the appreciative cheers he got from the Ravenclaw end. Most of the screams appeared to be female. Who knew Kye was so popular? As Jordan listed off their keeper and Victoire made her way to the door she glanced up towards the Ravenclaw end to catch a glimpse of her friends... but before she knew it her name was being called and her feet had taken her out onto the field.

If she was nervous it certainly didn't show. Victoire walked out onto the field with every bout of confidence Teddy had seen in her and he couldn't help but feel a flare of pride. When her name was called she smiled wide and waved to her audience who roared at her name. She was already a favorite.

"Captains, shake hands!"

Kye and Max approached each other center field as their teammates surrounded them on opposite sides. Already Ree and the Slytherin keeper were stationed below their hoops. Teddy watched as the two captains stepped forwards and shook hands. For once there didn't seem to be any flash of hate or grudge between the two captains. Then he remembered that Ravenclaw and Slytherin had more or less gotten along in the past as opposed to taking rivals sides as Victoire usually demonstrated. The players mounted their brooms and in that second before the whistle there was a moment of silence when he could have sworn he heard the whole stadium take in a breath before the shrill sound trilled out across the pitch and the game took play.

Victoire shoved off from the ground, immediately bolting upward and dodging her fellow teammates as they wrestled for the quaffle. Higher and higher she flew, aiming for the best vantage point to oversee the game as it broke out and search for that little golden snitch. She hadn't gotten thirty feet when she saw a speeding ball of black hurtling in her direction. She had only seconds to dive as the bludger missed her head by inches and went on to circle round back towards the Slytherins. Whirling round to see who had aimed the ball her eyes caught a smirking Sasha Hark- one of the Slytherin beaters- her bat held tightly in her hand. Victoire remembered having seen Sasha and Trinity spending time together recently and suddenly she felt a renewed spite for the girl who had tried to take her out. It was times like these she wished she was a beater just so she could rightfully get her back. Instead of getting angry thought, she focused her mind more on the game and let herself listen to the hurried voice of Pierce Jordan as he narrated the play.

"It's Richards with the quaffle as she makes her way down the other end with Sekhon on her tail, Richards passes to Northwick, back to Richards, passes to McKinnon and OH intercepted by Daravan, what a lovely play for a lovely face, atta girl Nelly!"

Nelly Daravan swiveled around and zipped through the ring of opposing chasers, leaving no one up ahead to stop her from scoring than the beaters.

"Daravan down the pitch now and it seems the Slytherin chasers haven't quite been thinking their defensive plays through too well, they've left her a clean path open! She's headed straight for the rings with Fordor for back up but wait! That was one hell of a boost of speed from Northwick, what kind of broom is he flying? I'd like to get my hands on one of those... Daravan still headed down the pitch with Northwick in pursuit- passes to Fordor, he catches - takes aim - shoots - RAVENCLAW SCORE! AND IT'S A LEAD FOR THE BRONZE AND BLUE!"

The crowd erupted into screams of joy and disappointment while Victoire couldn't help but let out a laugh. From up here in the sky the game was more exciting than anything she could have witnessed from the stands. Her eyes finally found her friends in the Ravenclaw stands, all of them on their feet screaming for her team. Towards the far end of the row she could see Teddy, his hair a blinding shock of bronze and blue as he hooted cheers and hollers for Mannix Fordor and the rest of them. She would have loved to join in the cheering as well, but before she knew it the game was back on and Pierce was back to commentating.

"We start again with a toss and Ravenclaw takes it- Sekhon with the quaffle this time and it appears the Slytherins have tightened up their defences because they haven't left much room for Alli to pass! She's going for it anyway, off towards the hoops with McKinnon headed straight for her, now how are we going to manage this I think I see a collision coming-! OH NO how wrong I was, fantastically aimed shot by Xavier Cross, Slytherin beater however it pains me to say it ladies and gentlemen, but THAT is what I call a play!"

Cross had hurled the bluder straight at Alli's head the second she had tried to pass McKinnon, giving her no choice but to bring her guard up and swivel, all while losing her grip on the ball and letting it drop right into Zeena McKinnon's hands. Now she was left a practically open field with no one but Mannix Fordor to stop her, and he wasn't exactly what you would call a big target. Pierce seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Seems like we've got that classic defense-doesn't-count conundrum here folks." he said, his voice ringing in her ears. "No offence Fordor but you're only in your third year and you're still about the size of a parakeet so don't hate us for losing confidence in you..."

Victoire watched, expecting McKinnon to fly straight through him but to the shock of the entire arena, he bolted for her instead! With the speed only someone as light as Mannix could obtain, he hurtled towards her full speed. She seemed to be shocked and somewhat uncertain, so uncertain that she managed to slow down her speed enough for Nelly Daravan to whip through and punch to quaffle out from under her arm straight towards Mannix as the crowd went wild.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Pierce was shouting as the Ravenclaws hooted and hollered from their stands. "I take back what I said about Slytherin folk, _THAT _is what I call a play! What a couple of teammates! Nelly Daravan and Mannix Fordor everyone!"

Victoire put two fingers in her mouth and wolf whistled along with the rest of the crowd, feeling light headed and happily in a daze until she saw someone waving wildly from the stands. Catching her eyes, she looked down and saw it was Teddy, deliberately trying to get her attention. He pointed two fingers at his own eyes, and then at the field, raising his eyebrows to give her the message she got loud and clear. _Eyes on the game. _

He was right of course. She had been getting completely distracted and it was lucky that Darwin hadn't picked up sight of the snitch sooner.

Speaking of Darwin, she looked round the pitch and saw him lingering somewhere over by the Ravenclaw goalposts, his eyes darting around endlessly. It unnerved her, knowing he'd been so alert all this time when she'd just been sitting back and enjoying the game.

Suddenly there was a loud cry of cheers as the Slytherin end of the pitch, which she took to take as that the game had just been tied up. It was time to get her act in gear.

It was nearing an hour into the game and the score was still close. Teddy's voice was practically hoarse from cheering so much, especially since Victoire started looking for the snitch. There had been one moment when she'd seen it but one of the Slytherin beaters had quickly put an end to that by actually hitting the bludger _into _the snitch and sending it flying in an opposite direction. He had received a penalty for it even though he claimed he was just aiming for Victoire, but all the same, it was enough to allow Ravenclaw to score another set. From the stands now he watched as Max Northwick flew down the pitch, the quaffle held firmly under his arm with the hopes of upping their lead by another ten points. If there was ever a time to catch the snitch, it would be now.

He had just thought the words that the whistle was blown in announcement of another goal for Slytherin. Max was grinning that smile that Teddy had come to hate and on top of that, did a victory lap of the stadium while his fans went wild. _Cocky bastard_, Teddy thought to himself as a particularly loud shrill cheer from the green clad end of the stadium hit his eardrum. Glancing over at the source he had to stifle an gag at the sight of Trinity Warrington and Luce Bones, both of them wearing Slytherin scarves and hopping up and down with glee as Max shot them a wave.

"I can't believe you dated her." Marcy noted to Teddy, glaring at the girls. "Hell, I can't believe I was friends with her!"

"A dark patch in both our lives." Teddy shrugged, winking at Marcy as she laughed and the group directed their gaze back onto the field.

The game was getting drawn out and Victoire knew that it was now or never. Weaving her way between players through the air, her eyes darted desperately around the field for that little flash of gold... but all she saw were panting players and cloudy skies. She needed a hand. Whipping around in mid air she caught a glimpse of Carter Darwin floating hastily up by the center of the field. At the exact same time he looked up at her- both their eyes meeting, and a pinched smirk crossed his expression just as the memory of Max's words echoed through her head.

_It's only a matter of time before he loses all control and rapes you... Darwin says it'll be at least another couple of months..._

That was enough to do it. Her eyes narrowed and she was about to turn round and find that snitch no matter what got in her way, when suddenly Darwin's eyes looked off in the distance and saw something. He immediately shot off towards the source, not bothering to look back for support. That was when Victoire knew it could only be one thing.

Not even giving herself time to look for the snitch to see where it was headed, she shot off and was soon right on Darwin's trail. He looked back for a second to see she was following before hanging a fast left and trying to ditch her- but it didn't work, she was too fast. She made the hook and was now practically eating his broom twigs she was so close. Her eyes were focused on the back of his head and she visualized how sweet it would be if a bludger were to ram into it right now...

It was the thought of the bludger that triggered the thought.

The way Darwin had looked up to see that she was watching him... how he'd made sure she was following him through the maze of people...

She remembered before when Alli had gotten her breakaway and the bludger had been hit her way, forcing her to discard all purpose of the game just to ensure her safety.

Drawing her eyes away from the back of his head, she looked to see the snitch that he was following... and saw that there was none. _It's a trick, _she thought, her head panicking. _They're trying to take me out!_

The words had just then crossed her mind when she heard the faint but audible sound of the bludger hurtling up behind her. _Out of sight out of mind_, _those tricky bastards..._ she thought and without even considering that Darwin may still know where the snitch was, she immediately cut upwards, soaring out of the pursuit and out of the path of the bludger... just in time to hear it miss her and smash into Darwin's shoulder.

He let out a blood curdling cry as a cracking sound echoed off enough to reach Toire's ears and ensure that he had broken something. This was a delay for him, and a power play for her that part was certain. Smiling but feeling ridiculously under pressure at her good fortune, she looked round and watched just as Alexa Richards scored another goal for Slytherin. The crowd screamed and shouted but she did not hear it. Time slowed down. Her mind was in the game. Nothing could distract her now.

That was when she heard it.

The flutter of wings. The tiny whizzing sound that reminded her of the humming bird. Of long forgotten summers and Quidditch games with Teddy and the boys. This was her sport. This was her moment.

Time sped up again.

The sound hit her like a wave- the screaming of the crowd and the pressure of the wind, but none of it mattered because when she turned her head she knew exactly where it was. The noise had given it away and all she had to do was dive.

Plunging the tip of her broom into descent, the snitch finally came into view, mere feet below her. The wind ripped through her hair making her eyes water as the gravity helped speed her attack. It was so close now, just inches away. She reached out her hand to take it, remembering the feeling of that glistening gold, cool and powerful in her hand. One more burst of speed...!

Her fingers wrapped around the snitch tightly and she let out a cry of triumph at the exact same time she could have sworn she'd heard Teddy do it from the stands. Pulling out of the dive sharply, she soared up into the air, the snitch clutched firmly in her fist, it's wings fluttering feebly as the whistle sounded and Pierce Jordan's voice screamed over the stadium;

"VICTOIRE WEASLEY CATCHES THE SNITCH! WHAT A WIN FOR RAVENCLAW!"

She could already see the Slytherins landing and stalking off together, some of them slamming their brooms down on the ground in anger, Darwin looking as though he were holding back tears as he clutched his shoulder and stared daggers at her angrily.

She slipped off her broom before she landed, she was so excited- falling a few feet before landing smoothly to be hit with the embrace and cheers of her teammates.

"I knew I picked you for a reason! I knew it!" Kye shouted above the screaming, pulling her close for a hug as he picked her up and spun her round. "Brilliant play! _Brilliant!"_

She laughed along with the rest and congratulated her fellow teammates as the stands began to empty, several of the Ravenclaw students climbing down to cheer along with their team. Minutes later Victoire still hadn't let go of the snitch which had finally given up trying to escape her clutches, when she felt a hand on her arm. Spinning round she came face to face with Ginger who's expression was all smiles and excitement.

"Oh my GOD! You were amazing out there!" she yelled before yanking Victoire into a bone crushing hug.

"Thank... you..." Victoire laughed, wheezing for air when she was released.

"Fantastic job Victoire, you should have seen the look on Max's face." Jensen grinned while Marcy attacked her with another hug.

"I thought you were going to die for sure when they hit that bludger after you.." she said while Victoire laughed. "Believe me, I'm fine. Better than fine actually." she beamed.

"I'll say."

Turning round she saw Teddy, his hair already slowly changing back to it's usual teal. Out of all her friends, he wore the biggest smile of all even though he seemed to be trying his hardest to hold it back. Without even thinking, she took two huge steps toward him before he scooped her up in his arms to hug her. She let out a laugh as he swung her around, lifting her much higher than Kye had and silently enjoying the feel of his chest against hers once again.

"You were amazing." he murmured in her ear, making her smile all the more.

"_You _saved my ass." she laughed as he put her down. She noticed her scarf wrapped loosely around his throat which for some reason made her all the happier.

"You wore it." she smiled, nodding to the scarf.

"I've got a half a mind not to give it back." he smirked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she leant into him. The group excited the pitch and headed their way back towards the castle, Toire still muddy in her robes, her broom held tightly in one hand, the snitch in the other.

"I'll take that for you." he smiled, reaching down and swinging her broom over his shoulder with ease.

"You're really taking this flirting thing seriously aren't you?" she joked, matching her stride with his.

"You have no idea." he grinned back. "Expect it all. Flowers, candy, proclamations of knighthood- the whole package."

"Maybe leave out the proclamations." she smirked just as they rounded the corner behind Hagrid's hut.

"Hasn't lost it on you yet has he Weasley?"

Victoire and Teddy stopped in their tracks almost identically. The voice was familiar for sure, and not in a friendly way.

"I thought I'd made it clear last time we spoke what would happen if you talked to her, Northwick." Teddy said, his voice changing instantly from amused to fury filled growl. The pair of them turned around while the rest of their friends walked on, seemingly oblivious to the situation behind them. Leaning up against the side of the hut were Max and Trinity, surrounded by a couple other Slytherins who wore similar expressions of conceitedness.

"Frankly Lupin, your empty threats don't worry me." Max smirked, Trinity gazing at him from his side.

"Do you smell that?" Trinity asked her friends, casting a glance over at Victoire. "Absolutely awful. All of a sudden it _reeks _of second hand slut."

"That's ironic, coming from you." Victoire found herself spitting back, her face flushing. "From what I've heard you're not so pure either."

Trinity let out another shrill laugh, stepping closer to Victoire. " '_Not so pure,_'? Well that's sweet." she beamed, letting some poison seep into her voice. "Tell me, if I'm not so pure, what does that make you? Your father's practically half dog, so you must be some breed of bitch. Does your mother know beastiality is illegal or does she go around humping everything on four legs-"

She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence due to the bolt of white light that hit her square in the face, sending her stumbling back into Max's arms. A wail of pain escaped her as her hands flew to her face, feeling what Victoire had intended to be there.

"What the fuck did you do!" Max hissed, as Trinity pulled her hands back to reveal the ever swelling welts on her face, shiny with inflammation. All Trinity could do was howl.

"Come on Toire, let's go." Teddy said, his face an expression of shock as he grabbed her hand and started pulling her away while she followed stubbornly, her rage haven't having come down quite yet. Turning back to Teddy she was shocked momentarily out of her fit when she saw him trying to stifle hysterics.

"What?" she said, glaring ahead but becoming increasingly oblivious to his hand in hers.

"I can't..." he said between shakes of laughter. "I can't believe you did that..."

Immediately she felt her stomach twist. He was right! She was so stupid, Trinity was sure to rat on her and then what would happen? She could loose all the points she'd just won for her house or even worse- get kicked off the team!

"Merlin, I'm such an idiot!" she said, some of the panic seeping into her voice. She seemed crazy enough to sober Teddy up some from his laughter.

"Don't worry about it." he grinned, re-adjusting his grip on her broom. "You were provoked."

"That doesn't make it okay!" she exclaimed, still panicked.

"The worst McGonagall'll give you is detention. It's not going to affect your games." Pondering something for a moment, he turned back to her. "That's not really that serious a hex is it?"

"They should wear off in a day or too." Victoire grumbled. "Her repulsive personality on the other hand seems like it's here to stay." That made him laugh, which brightened her mood a bit.

"Hex or no hex, Victoire," Teddy smirked, squeezing her hand. "...you're a hell of a girl."

**Hello my darling readers!**

**Wow, so this has been my longest chapter yet. Sorry to keep you all waiting. It's exam season and all so I'm trying to keep my grades passible for the final stretch which has been taking up some time. **

**I would just like to thank you once again for the reviews. Seriously, they totally make my life. Also I'd just like to give you a heads up about the upcoming Quidditch season in this fic. As you know, I try to keep my fics as canon as possible so I did a lot of research into how Quidditch at Hogwarts is oriented, how who faces who, etc. I discovered that the way it's done in the books is a round-robin tournament. Unfortunately, no matter how much I tried to make it work, the plot line I'd planned out always clashes with the round-robin tournament. So this is just me telling you that this bit isn't really going to be completely accurate in the whole who-versus-who in the Quidditch tourney. **

**I'd also like to thank all the people who have brought it to my attention that I had been spelling "Quidditch" wrong this whole time. WHAT KIND OF A FAN AM I IF I CAN'T EVEN SPELL QUIDDITCH?**

**Anyway, thanks again for all the reviews, faves and subscribes. I really appreciate it and please bare with me if it takes me awhile to finish up this fic. **

**Lots of love, **

**Cal**


	32. Riot

After the match and Victoire's burst of a hex on Trinity Warrington, she hadn't exactly been looking forward to returning to the school.

"They'll be furious." she worried for what must have been the fifth time as she made her way with Teddy towards the castle. They were approaching the doors quickly enough and all she could think of was the punishment someone was probably in the process of thinking up for her for doing what she'd done to Trinity's face. "Fixing" was what Teddy had called it, but she doubted such an excuse would go over well if given to one of the professors. Teddy had consoled her and tried to ease her worries, but she was having none of it. He'd tried keeping silent on the matter as well, but that was something he'd never been very good at. Just as they were approaching the oak doors to return to the school, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, his fingers strong on her skin as they pulled her to the side out of the current of students.

"You really don't want to go back in there?" he asked her after she had regained her footing. Confused, she narrowed her eyes. "Well..." He threw a glance over his shoulder at the stream of young witches and wizards. "No." she said, glancing down to see that he had still not let go of her wrist. Turning back to her he cracked a smile. "Brilliant." he smiled, dropping her hand to her sullen dismay. "Meet me by the greenhouses in fifteen minutes. I'll find a place to store your broom."

"Where are we going?" she asked, her heartbeat already picking up at the thought of pulling off another task that wasn't in the rulebook. Two in one day was rather unlike her. He had already turned to leave when she asked the question, but now he glanced back.

"You know, patience is a virtue." he smiled, her broom swung lazily over his shoulders.

"So is honesty." she said sarcastically, before she headed towards the greenhouses.

It took a little longer than fifteen minutes, but all the same she waited. Now that she wasn't moving to keep warm, the wind ran straight through her Quidditch robes and chilled her skin so fiercely she felt gooseflesh on nearly every inch of it. She had taken her hair out of its ponytail and was running her fingers through it when he appeared, just inches in front of her grinning like a maniac. She yelped at the sudden apparition and jumped back.

"Careful there Toire, one would think you'd committed a crime or something." he sniggered, tucking the invisibility cloak away in a bag he had brought with him.

"Hardy har har." she muttered, crossing her arms in another attempt to preserve warmth. "I hope our destination's somewhere warm."

"Eventually." he said, still convinced to keep an air of secrecy around their journey. "But for now you'll want to put these on."

Almost with a sort of flourish, he pulled a stack of clothes from the bag that she instantly recognized as her own. "You got into Ravenclaw tower?" she asked.

"Your house isn't the only one that can solve riddles." he said, a glint in his eye as he handed her the pile.

"You hid behind one of them and snuck in when the door opened didn't you?" she stated in a deadpan.

"Obviously. Now go change." "Yeah yeah..." she smiled, walking around one of the greenhouses to get some privacy. Once hidden by the walls, she stripped off her damp clothes for clean ones, finding a pair of dark skinny jeans, a light yellow t shirt and a soft grey sweater that looked and smelled oddly familiar.

"This isn't mine." she said when she rounded the building again, her Quidditch robes folded messily under one arm. He took them from her without a word and pulled her old black jacket out of the depths of the bag. "I know." he said, putting the robes in its place as she slipped on the coat. "I figured you'd missed it though." he smiled, tossing her a final article of clothing- his red and gold Gryffindor scarf. Catching it in midair, she wrapped the soft material around her shoulders and tied it at the nape of her neck. He watched her as she did it, her own scarf still secured around his jacket collar. Once she had finished, he slung the bag over one shoulder and gestured out beyond the clearing. "Shall we?"

"We shall." she smiled, as the two of them trudged on.

They followed the path of the school just as far as the edge of the castle, stopping when they had a view of the rolling hills of the grounds. Victoire was following Teddy's direction and had thought that maybe he'd stopped to catch his breath, but that guess soon receded when he pulled a familiar scrap of paper out of his back pocket.

"Should have known you still had that thing." she said, rolling her eyes as he took his own wand out and pointed it at the paper. Leaning against his shoulder to get a better look, they said the spell together.

"_I solemnly swear I am up to no good." _As soon as the words were out, the ink began to blossom. Lines and curves, finely illustrated details and charts of the castle came into view and Victoire couldn't help but in take a breath even though she'd seen it all before. The history of the map was something she'd always loved, and something Teddy cherished even more.

"Let's see just what'll be facing us when we return..." he said, ignoring the pointed look Victoire gave him as he scanned the page. "What? You already know you're going to get busted, you might as well find out how soon. Here we go." He tapped the map to show her a tiny labeled dot. _Trinity Warrington _was currently stationed in the hospital wing, along with several of her other Slytherin friends while the dot labeled _Max Northwick_ seemed to be making its way back to the Slytherin common room.

"Well, looks like you're screwed." he said as her eyes landed on two dots just outside the castle. _Teddy Lupin _and _Victoire Weasley _were stationed side by side while other currently nameless dots made their way back around and into the castle, leaving them a clean path to the grounds.

_Side by side _she thought to herself. _Just as it should be._ She snuck another glance at the map but Teddy was already folding it up and muttering _"Mischief Managed" _to the parchment so that it was wiped clean like a blackboard gone over with a wet cloth. They had no choice but to set off again.

"How long do you plan on keeping that?" she asked Teddy, referring to the map. He walked briskly, his hands deep in his pockets taking long strides. The wind tossed his hair out of his eyes as he answered. "Only until the end of the year." he said, looking out across the grounds- over the lake and beyond into the forest. Something about the mood that day, maybe the weather or maybe just the two of them being alone without any friends or bit of the castle to influence their thoughts- it seemed different. Quieter, less heavy. For the first time in a long while Victoire felt as though she wasn't walking with Teddy: the boy she was trying to win over, but instead with Teddy, her best friend. Teddy who'd played Quidditch with her one on one as kids, who'd never let her win just because she was a girl. The same Teddy that had taken her for a joy ride on his broom the night before he left for Hogwarts, not because he was trying to impress her but because she was his best friend and he trusted her to make him feel at home. As things changed between them, and she knew that they certainly were changing, she had to remind herself not to lose that part of how she saw him. Besides, that was the part that had taken her in the first place. The part that had made her stay.

"Once I'm out of this place I can't take the map with me." he spoke up again, drawing Victoire's attention. "It belongs at Hogwarts." he said. "At the end of this year I'll give it to James. It should stay in the family."

"The marauders family you mean." she noted, thinking back to all the stories Harry had told them.

"Yeah." he said, still staring off toward the trees. He let slip a smile. "The one I actually belong in."

He let it slip so subtly that she almost didn't notice it, but when she did it took her completely off guard. "Don't say that." she managed to get out between the shock. He didn't say anything and just kept walking, which aggravated her even more. "You have every right to be a part of Harry's life." He didn't seem ready to listen.

"Why?" he asked, his bright eyes downcast. "I'm not a Potter, I'm not a Weasley... I'm a Lupin. The last one for all I know. I'm practically an endangered species."

He didn't notice she'd stopped walking until he was at least a few meters away. "Victoire?"

As he turned round to find her she moved forward. Her boots padded across the grass as she marched up to him. He was plainly taken aback by the expression but before he could speak she reached out and grabbed his chin in one hand.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice muffled and the surprise clearly etched on his face.

"Teddy Lupin." she said, her voice almost a growl of frustration. "If you even think about talking about yourself in such a self pitying tone again, I will slap the colour right out of your hair."

He was so shocked, all he could manage was a nod, his eyes wide in wonder.

"You are not nobodies family." she said, her voice still angry. "You are _my _family. Alright?"

Again, he nodded.

"Good." she said, dropping her hand from his jaw to which he started rubbing to get some feeling back into it. "Now let's go."

"When did you get so forceful..." he mumbled as they continued their walk.

"When you started getting so self conscious." she said, their arms brushing as they continued. They walked in silence, the only sound between them the rustling of the wind and the faint murmur of student's voices before Victoire spoke up again, softer this time.

"You'll always be my family, Teddy." she said, her voice just above a whisper. As soft as it was, it seemed to do the trick because his hand reached out and took hers, holding it tight as they headed towards their destination.

As they walked on, it didn't take long for Victoire to figure out where they were going once they stopped upon a certain landmark. Teddy had let go of her hand before stepping up to the huge tree, the wind picking up and tousling his hair. She felt her own hair whipping her face thanks to the breeze just as it dawned on her. Teddy kneeled before the Whomping Willow and crawled forward on all fours to reach the knot that would freeze its movements. He succeeded undetected, and upon returning to her side she had to ask him. "How long's it been?"

"A while." he said after a pause, letting her lead the way to the secret passageway among the trees enormous roots. The first time Teddy had made the journey to the shrieking shack by this route, he had been alone and in his first year. Not knowing the exact placement of the knot, he had taken too long to find it and woken the trees wrath. Luckily he'd escaped with only a few cuts and bruises, but he didn't return to attempt the journey again until the next year. Then he had dragged Victoire along with him.

She was smaller than him at the time and had been able to crawl along the ground at night, feeling for the placement of the branches and holes along the earth until she found it- a small round knot that had twisted when she touched it. She swore she had heard a thunking sound from deep inside the earth when the tree stopped moving, but at the time it hadn't mattered. Now, however many years later they had returned once again. Not to say the pair hadn't made visits to the shrieking shack together since that day. They had gone at least a few times a year when felt needed. Victoire would always bring someone with her, a group or just Ginger or Marcy, but who knew how many times Teddy had visited the shack alone. He had roots there. Out of all their friends, only the two of them knew the true significance of the shrieking shack. Teddy hadn't felt the need to tell anyone about it, and if he hadn't then she certainly wasn't about to now.

"After you." he said, gesturing towards the now largely visible space in the ground. Nodding to him in thanks, she lowered herself to her knees and crawled.

The tunnel was long but Victoire barely noticed the time it took them to get there. As the two of them walked along the underground passage, their wands lighting their way, it wasn't hard for them to think up a topic of conversation. Their voices floated easily over things surrounding Quidditch, grades, friends and family. They speculated how long it would be until James finally hexed someone and which house Albus would be in the following year. Teddy talked about what he planned to do once he was finished school, and revealed to her how much he didn't want to leave. Victoire couldn't help but feel the same way. Hogwarts had that effect on people. Once you were here, it became apart of you. Leaving the castle would feel almost incomplete.

"There are just so many things we don't know about it." Teddy mused as the tunnel started sloping upwards. "Secret rooms and passages, paintings and trick steps... it's endless. Leaving without finding them all just feels wrong."

"But that's the way it's supposed to be." Victoire reminded him. "Without all the mystery, Hogwarts would just be another building. What we have is something special. Something that'll always keep up guessing."

By now they were at the end of the tunnel. "I guess you're right..." Teddy said, lifting a hand to feel about the ceiling of the passageway. There was a loud _crack_ that echoed out and along the tunnel, and soon the easily disguised trapdoor came loose. Teddy gave it a shove and it flipped over onto the floor on the other side, sending a cloud of dust up into the air to greet them as they climbed into the shack.

Once inside, Teddy reached back down to give Toire his hand, hoisting her up in a burst of strength so the two of them could stand in the opening. A gust of wind blew through the house and the whole building seemed to shake along with it, giving the grey cracked walls an even eerier look than they had had before. Standing side by side the couple took in the sight, neither of them speaking to break the silence that had come. The house shook again and Teddy tightened his coat around him.

"Sometimes I think about what it was like for him..." he spoke, his voice quiet but not so much that Victoire had to strain to listen. "To go through what he went through. I mean, it wasn't like this was a happy place for him." That was true enough. The shack definitely didn't have a comforting look about it. Victoire thought back on everything her father had ever told her about Remus Lupin. How he'd been kind, soft spoken, and above all- brave.

"This place wasn't here before." Teddy went on. "It was built for _him._ He came here to change, and for all the good it did him. They were always going on about his ill health apparently, but in the end it was him who outlived them all." He dropped his gaze to the floor, his face a mask of conflicted emotions.

Not for the first time that day, she didn't know what to say.

"I always wonder what that was like." he said. "To watch your friends drop off, one by one, until it's just you standing. No more support. I wonder if when he died he was thankful for it."

The silence that followed would have been deafening if Victoire hadn't thought about what he said. Losing everything, watching people drop like flies... it was something she had never known, but her family did all too well. She had been born shortly after the Wizarding War and had even seen some of the long term effects of the losses it had made. The mourning could be seen in everyone's eyes now and then. Whenever her birthday rolled around there was always celebration, but it was never really happy. She had her cake, her presents, her party hat... but the memories stayed. Being born on the anniversary of so many deaths had never been the cheeriest of times. Just another way that the war had continued to affect everyone, over sixteen years since it ended. Even now, her uncle George only looked in a mirror when he absolutely had to. Looking around the room at the disarray of it all- the torn furniture, the cracks of light and the layer of grime that covered every piece- she put herself in the mind of the marauders. Just another group of friends, not unlike hers. Except they had lived in darker times. They had stood up for what they believed in, and they had faced the consequences. They had died, but with their death and with their life, they had helped cure the world.

"I think..." she said, glancing towards him while choosing her words. "That he was thankful for the peace. The unknown and the return of his friends." The phrase seemed to make an effect on Teddy as he frowned and kept his gaze steady on his feet, taking her words into account. "But," she continued. "I don't think he would have ever welcomed death at that point if he had a choice. Not for what it meant he was leaving behind."

She watched him as he dealt with his thoughts, waiting for him to speak. When he finally raised his head, she could see the red around his eyes and the splotches on his skin from holding back emotion. Feeling something in her break, she slid her arms around his waist and held him, turning so her cheek was pressed against his chest, listening intently to his heartbeat as it thrummed beneath the fabric. It only took a moment before he lowered his chin to rest it on her head, the two of them standing there together, breathing in the air that his father had lived in on some of the most painful nights of his life.

"Do you hear that noise?" Victoire asked as the two of them took the stairs up toward the Ravenclaw common room. They had spent most of the day in Hogsmeade, window shopping and watching people mill about in the town's quaint little streets. They'd even stepped into The Three Broomsticks for a couple of butterbeers before they returned to the tunnel and took the long journey back to the castle, this time in a much cheerier mood than the serious one that had settled over them with their time in the Shrieking Shack.

Now they were back in the castle, Teddy having insisted to walk Victoire back up to her common room. Now as they neared the door, a steady pounding of muffled music could be heard coming from somewhere inside the room.

"Yeah..." Teddy said, casting her an odd glance before they stepped forward. Something seemed to dawn on them then as an expression of realisation spread over his face. "Ah, I know what it is."

"What?" she asked, still confused.

"You make it so obvious it's your first year at Quidditch." he smirked, swinging an arm over her shoulders. They stepped up to the door and the knocker recited it's riddle;

"_What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?_"

She looked at him and he shrugged. "You're the Ravenclaw, remember? Supposedly all I'm good for is fighting stuff and being stupid." Laughing at his jab she almost forgot about the noise coming from the inside. "A River." she said to the door in answer. It swung forward and the noise hit her, showing what was revealed on the other side was definitely not what she was expecting.

"WEASLEY!"

Nothing could have prepared her for the surging heard of Ravenclaws and the pounding music, let alone their reaction when they saw her in the doorway. The common room was decked out with bronze and blue banners, streamers and balloons everywhere. Someone had painted a particularly graphic poster of an eagle tearing out a snake's insides with its beak which took Victoire a bit off guard as she was grabbed by the wrist and pulled into the throng, away from Teddy.

"Help!" she squealed as Ravenclaw after Ravenclaw pulled her in and congratulated her.

"Great job Victoire!"

"You're our savior!"

"Brilliant play that last one!"

She let out a string of thank yous as quickly as she could to as many people she could muster as she stumbled through the mass, her heart pounding in overtime as she still recovered from the initial shock of the crowd and their reaction.

How long was this going to last?

Teddy watched, bemused, as Victoire was swept away by the swarm, grinning to himself at the innocence of it. He should have known this would be waiting for them. It wasn't like Gryffindor was the only house that knew how to celebrate.

"Hey!"

Turning at the sound, he saw a familiar tuft of orange hair squeezing through the gang.

"Watch it asshole, keep your hands to yourself..." she spat at a drunk looking fourth year before shoving past the remaining bunch to stand beside Teddy.

"Ginger." Teddy greeted, taking in her demeanor; pink cheeks, bright eyes, hair stuck to her brow with sweat. His eyes grazed lower for a moment and then widened. "...and Ginger's friends."

She jumped and immediately crossed her arms over her chest, flushing with embarrassment. "Shut up!" she hissed as he attempted to hold in a snort of laughter at her reaction. "It's not that bad!"

"There's someone here dressed with less?" he asked, full out laughing now as he mock scanned the room for a girl with a lower cut top. Ginger did her best to look pissed but even she was cracking a smile. All Teddy had to do was shake his chest provocatively before she broke. "Oh Merlin!" she giggled as the two of them guffawed and fell victim to strange looks from the other Ravenclaws. "I know, I know. It was Marcy's idea. I always used to say she should have been a Ravenclaw, she's got the brains for it. But with this..." Ginger gestured to her chest and Teddy tried to avert his eyes but the testosterone in him couldn't help itself. "My shirt might as well say 'Free Melons'."

"What shirt?"

"Teddy!"

She slugged him; not too hard, although it wouldn't have mattered much. He couldn't help sneak in a final glance before changing the subject off her breasts slightly.

"Is all this..." he gestured to her bust, "...for Sean?"

She leaned back against the wall behind them, cutting her eyes toward a figure on the other side of the room. Teddy's eyes followed and sure enough- there was Sean, dancing to the pounding music with some blonde girl who seemed vaguely familiar. She was pressed against him, hard, her hips moving all over the place.

"Melanie Atkinson." Ginger explained. "She shares our dorm, but she's hardly ever there. Spends all her time in the bloody _library_." she growled.

"Well she's certainly not in the library now." Teddy said, his eyebrows raised as Melanie grinded against Sean to the beat of the music. "I wonder if she learnt _that_ from a book..." he snorted.

"I can't just go over there and barge in on them!" Ginger exclaimed, ignoring Teddy's musings. "She's practically got him in her trigger hairs!"

Teddy's face must have read a blank because she let out an even deeper sigh at having to explain. "Trigger hairs, remember?" she said, exasperated. "Venus fly trap metaphor? None of this registering to you?"

He continued to stare.

"Honestly Teddy, didn't you pay _any _attention in Herbology?"

"Oh yeah, those are the plants that ate flies right?" he grinned, remembering. "Mine bit Clyde's finger..." he said, remembering the good times as Ginger performed an honest-to-god facepalm.

"I don't know what to _do_! Teddy, you're a guy-"

"I certainly hope so."

"...if you were Sean, what would I have to do to get your attention?"

Teddy pondered it for a moment and then gave her the best advice he could think of.

"Probably just go over there." he shrugged. "He's not going to notice you if you're not in eyesight. I'd just try to forget about him all together. Go dance with someone and pretend you don't see him. He's not looking out for you, so just ignore it. It should fall into place eventually."

"You really think so?" she asked him hesitantly. He smiled. She certainly came across as tough as nails, but underneath it Ginger was still just another girl who liked a guy. He admired her innocence.

"Yeah, I do." he said, nodding towards the crowd. "Go for it."

She took a final glance toward Sean who was currently trying to keep up with Melanie's pendulum hips, and then back to Teddy.

"Alright." she said, putting on a confident face. "Come on, let's go!" she grabbed his wrist, giving it a hard tug as she pulled him toward the crowd.

"No wait, Ginger-"

"You told me to have fun, I'm having fun!" she called back over the noise. "I'm just bringing you with me!"

And then they were in. He didn't notice when the bodies closed the gap but it was only a matter of moments until he was sweating from all the body heat. Luckily thanks to his height it was easy to get the fresh air, but mostly he was surrounded by surging forms- people dancing, laughing, yelling over the music and most of all- grinding. A sudden though flashed through his head as Ginger pulled him farther toward the center of the crowd.

_Where's Victoire?_

He didn't have to wait long to get his answer.

They had made it to the center of the party, although it seemed more like the eye of a tornado. Figures swirled around him, moving almost erotically to the sound. Everything was blue and bronze, he could barely hear himself think and the smell of booze was overpowering. Whoever had managed to sneak it in had smuggled an excellent haul. The alcohol must have been pouring nearly as much as the sweat was. He could feel it running down his back and see it soaked into the clothes of the other students around him. Ginger was still pulling but her hand was so clammy that as she gave another tug to get him through the masses, it slipped off his wrist and she disappeared into the throng. He circled a few times looking for her, his eyes spotting several familiar faces but not managing to be able to put names to them. Not that he wasn't familiar with these sort of parties, having celebrating his own share of Quidditch win after-parties. He was already blending in with the dancing. All that kept his mind from becoming a haze was the willingness to make sure Toire was handling herself.

He felt a hand run over his shoulder and he turned to see a girl a few years younger than him slide up and press herself to him, her spine leaning on his chest. He went with instinct at first and felt his hands slide down to her hips. She leaned her head back against his chest, gazing up at him with half-lidded eyes as her arse ground toward him, leaving him growing increasingly pleasured. He was already getting drunk on the party; drunk on the music, the sound, the heat, the _girl_. She was cute too, her hair in a schoolgirl cut, brown and straightened. She was wearing too much makeup but it didn't really matter. He could always pretend that she was Toire.

"_Pretend that she was Toire"? What the hell is wrong with you! _his conscience snapped. He blinked as the girl smiled up at him, showing rows of slightly stained teeth. The music seemed to stop being such a white noise. Now it was just a buzzing in his ear- annoying, like a mosquito that won't quit. The sweat was sticky and the booze burned his nostrils.

"You're a really good dancer." the girl drawled flirtatiously, her hand rubbing against him to feel up his leg. From this angle he could see straight down her shirt. "I'm Anna."

"Hi Anna." he said, his voice sounding louder and clearer than it ever had. "I have to go."

And just like that he was gone.

He briefly heard an annoyed cry of "Hey!" from the girl he left behind as he pushed his way through the group, breaking up couples and ripping past some kids attempting a drinking game involving Skiving Snackboxes, a pigmy puff and a couple of cheap beers. His eyes scanned the crowd for that familiar wisp of hair, those bright blue eyes, even a whiff of her soap and jasmine scent. But it wasn't any of those traits that brought him to her. In the end, it was just her name.

"Come on Toire, it's just a dance."

"For the last time Kye, I said no."

The words were like ice in Teddy's ears. Ice that slowly turned to fire and set all that faster on his mission. It was only a matter of seconds before he say them then. They were a few feet behind him, surrounded by a group of Kye's friends. Bolton had his arms around her, his hands lock tightly over her stomach as they tried to make their way down to her hips. His eyes were drooping thanks to the beer he'd consumed and he was wearing a sort of leer that Teddy had only associated before with Max Northwick, but there was no mistaking it for Kye. His chin rested on her shoulder and his lips... his lips were busy muttering in her ear, things that Teddy couldn't hear. Things that Teddy didn't _want _to hear. From the expression on Victoire's face it didn't seem like they were very romantic.

"I'm warning you Kye..." she growled, giving another attempt to pull away but his arms just held her tighter. She'd changed her top and was now wearing a tight black cami, but the sweater he'd lent her was still tied securely around her waist. Kye's hands drifted lower.

"Why do you still have this thing on, huh? It's too warm in here for extra clothes..." he mumbled to her, his hands fumbling at the knot she'd tied in the arms of the sweater.

That was the spark for Teddy.

Kye didn't even notice when Teddy appeared suddenly beside him, barely felt it when he grabbed the back of his shirt and only registered a slight pain in his arse when he was shoved to the ground. It was only when he couldn't feel Victoire's ass against him that he realized what had just happened. That was when he started to get mad.

Kye was scrambling up from the floor, his face a shade of red Victoire had never seen on a human being before. She didn't know if he was going to scream, start throwing punches or burst into tears. It had all happened so fast- one second she was trying to get away from Kye, the next he was being ripped away from her and Teddy was in his place, his hand still reaching back for her protectively. His tee shirt was stuck to his shoulders with sweat and she could see the muscles in his back, tense with the assumption of a fight. Kye took an angry step forward and it seemed like Teddy was going to be well prepared, until Kye started screaming.

Victoire couldn't exactly make out the words, although she doubted most of the people in the room could, it was so slurred. Fortunately, due to the repetitive use of words such as "fucker" "slag" "dead man" and "arsewipe", it was pretty easy to get an idea of what he was trying to say. Kye was too drunk to start any sort of fight, even though he was drawing quite a bit of attention. Teddy seemed to be starting to notice this just as Victoire was, and all cause for violence looked like it was going to be avoided. That was, until a looming figure appeared behind her. Turning round, she saw a guy she recognized from her house, a sixth year named Greg. Giant Greg to his friends.

"Fuck." Victoire said, grabbing Teddy's hand.

Teddy was too focused on the screaming, red faced Kye Bolton to pay much attention to the shadow behind him until he felt a familiar hand in his own. The last time he'd held it it had been peaceful and soft, but now it was sweaty and urgent, pulling at him hastily. He turned to look at Victoire, but she didn't hold his attention for long due to the overwhelming presence of a Ravenclaw in Victoire's year. Teddy was more than familiar with Greg Colson. It was a miracle the guy wasn't a half giant, but apparently there was no relation to Hagrid in his blood. He looked like a total meathead, but his house placement proved differently. Teddy stared up at all six foot seven of Greg, feeling increasing frustration that was being caused by the music, Kye's screaming and now Greg's offensive stance.

"Can I help you?" Teddy spat, losing all patience.

"Yeah, you can." Greg growled, his voice rumbling. "You familiar with my girlfriend Anna?"

Teddy's eyes opened slightly as they flicked to Anna, peaking out from behind Greg with a bitter look on her face.

"You have got to be kidding me." He ran his free hand through his hair which was rapidly changing to a deep red as he grew increasingly more frustrated.

"This is not your lucky day, pal." Greg said, cracking his knuckles as he took a step towards Teddy. Teddy on the other hand, suddenly seemed to be a mask of calm despite the reddening colour of his hair. He slowly held up his hands toward the giant of a man.

"Hold on a second." he said, his voice soft but somehow traveling. Even Kye stopped to listen. The music was softer. Every eye was on Teddy. "It's Greg, right?"

"Damn right it's Greg." he growled again. Victoire could have sworn she saw a twitch go off in Teddy's eye.

"Greg, this is a really, _really _bad time to get on my nerves right now, so do you think you could come back another day?"

Now it was Greg's face that was turning red. Teddy was still talking. "Maybe in a week or two? I've got an opening next Wednesday that would fit your description."

"_Teddy_." Victoire hissed, her eyes wide with shock, but he ignored her. "Unsatisfied girlfriend flirts with normal bloke and then deals with it by lying to her meatsack of a boyfriend to do something about it. That's your relationship, right?"

Greg's fist was curled and drawn before anyone could so much as hope to shout "LOOK OUT!"

Luckily, Teddy was faster.

In a flash and a blur, his wand was out and the sparks flew. He performed the curse wordlessly but it didn't take much to figure out what it was due to the suddenly rigid and frozen state Greg's body took on. His arms snapped to his sides like a plank and there were cries from all around as the students pushed and shoved to get out of the way of the falling body. In the mix of all the chaos, Kye had started screaming again. There were drunk and angry friends of Greg and Kye approaching from all sides and it was all Teddy could do to listen to the pressure of the hand that pulled him backwards, guiding him hurriedly faster and faster away from the riot.

"Come on, hurry!" Victoire panted, pulling him toward the door that led out of the common room, the remnants of the crowd becoming more and more confused as people from the brawl attempted to push their way after him. "You've got to get out of here before you lose a limb or something." she said, shoving his bag at him that he'd left by the entrance. "The cloak's in there. Use it." She pressed the pouch to his chest and in an spur of adrenaline, Teddy reached forward and slid his fingers around the back of her neck, cradling her head as their brows pressed together. Victoire felt her breathing slow and her heart pick up into double time as her hand did the same thing, feeling the damp sweat in his hair, both friend's eyes focused on each others as they shared a moment of luck. All noises dimmed, all colours were brighter. A second seemed to slow down as Victoire was overcome with possibly the most desire she had ever felt. There was a crash behind them signaling the approach of the attackers, and without giving it a second though, she moved forward quickly and let her lips peck his cheek before shoving him back towards the door. "Now go!" she said, not being able to look back at the danger even though she wanted to, her lips suddenly warm. Teddy took a step toward the door but his eyes were still wide, his face still an expression of shock and vulnerability. She looked at him, exasperated.

"_Go!"_

He ran.

**Holy. Shit. **

**That took me a long time. WOW I am sorry you guys! It's just I had half of this finished for the longest time but I couldn't bring myself to write the party scene and then this riot thing kind of spilled out and blah blah blah. **

**HOW ARE YOU ALL? I'm finally done my exams and my actual legitimate goal for the summer is to finish this fic. I know, I know, it's far fetched considering my track record. But hell, I'm gonna try. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I've already started the next one so (fingers crossed!) it'll be coming soon. **

**If you're interested in following my writing and progress with this among other pieces and writing advice, you can check out my writers blog; .com**

**Reviews welcome!**

**xoxo,**

**Cal**


	33. No Wands for Louis

December came quickly with cold winds and even colder nights. The castle halls were drafty with chill and the house elves made their best efforts to keep the fires hot, but somehow it barely seemed to help. The freezing temperatures crept in through the walls and left the students with freezing hands and feet during the nights. But betwixt all that chill there was one thing that kept the students working through their winter exams, and that was the knowledge of that with the snow and the cold, with the white covered ground... Christmas was coming.

So was vacation. On the final day of term everyone seemed to be packed and ready to go. Trunks had been lugged out from under beds and jammed with socks, books and clothes in a state that was no way as neat as it had been when they had arrived back in September. Victoire dragged her trunk across the worn and scratched floor of her dormitory to the door along with the other bags that waited there. The next morning she would take the train ride back to the burrow for Christmas. Once they'd gotten to platform 9 3/4 her and her friends would say their farewells and she and Teddy would continue on. Thoughts of the family at Christmas always managed to make her smile. When the group was together, everything could go wrong- and that was the way she liked it. The Weasleys had a sort of ruckus about them that made every day exciting. It was just one of the many traits that made Victoire proud of her family.

Dropping her trunk at the door she left the dormitory and headed down the stairs to the common room where Ginger was waiting for her so they could get a headstart on their potions essay. She took the stairs two at a time, skipping them and dodging fellow Ravenclaws who were doing their best to get their things together for the journey the next day. She was just reaching the entrance way when her path was blocked by a shadow. She reared back quickly to avoid collision but it was too late- she lost her footing on the steps and tumbled headfirst into none other than Kye Bolton. The two of them went down in a flurry of books and paper, Victoire toppling over and unfortunately landing directly on top of him, their noses banging once before Victoire had the good sense to scramble somewhat away.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." she said, trying to avoid making eye contact as not to provoke any unpleasant memories from the celebration party or another of Kye's hour long monologues that could result in having no meaning whatsoever. "I'm such a klutz, I was just in this huge hurry..."

"No worries Toire." Kye was picking himself up now and dusting off his jeans (which to what Victoire could see, didn't have a speck of dust on them anyway), while gathering up the rest of his papers. "It was a pleasure." he added cockily, winking at her and Victoire couldn't help but feel a bit of her skin crawl. All grudges aside Kye was a decent individual, but given the choice she would probably rather date a house elf. Bolton just had this way about him when he was trying to flirt that made you feel... _dirty_. And not in a good way. Unfortunately for her he had been showing some interest, especially since their big win over a month ago and his drunken incident when he couldn't get the hint and Teddy had to step in. She had done her best to brush him off, but he wasn't doing very well at getting the message.

"Need some help bringing your bag down?" he offered after she helped herself off the floor. "I've never seen the inside of the girls dorm before you know." he winked and she felt herself blush on his behalf. She didn't know it was possible for someone to come off so desperate, but apparently she was wrong. "No thanks Kye, I think I've got it handled." she said, choosing to ignore his last comment.

"Well just let me know if you ever need help with anything." he grinned. "And I mean _anything._" She turned away before she could see him wink for a third time, feeling herself shudder. Hurrying from the stairwell she looked around the room to see Ginger watching her. Her redheaded friend seemed to be trying to hold back giggles while she waved her over. Victoire reached their table and sat down with a huff, all her air escaping her as she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"That bad huh?" Ginger snickered.

"You are so lucky Sean is a nice guy." she growled as Ginger laughed. "I swear, he winks so much I'm having a hard time believing it's not some daft twitch or something..." she ranted while Ginger continued to giggle.

"I just can't unsee that side of him that was at the party, you know?" she said, grabbing her textbook from across the table and flipping the pages methodically. "I look at him and all I see is red faced, drunk and screaming. He talks and all I hear is him calling Teddy a sniveling excuse for an arsewipe..."

If tensions between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Quidditch team hadn't been high before, they certainly were more than heated now. It was common knowledge of what had gone on at that party and with Kye holding more than a common grudge over Teddy, he was encouraging his team to be ready to smash the Gryffindors when it finally came down to playing them. Teddy seemed to be acting the same, but had in a much more discreet manner that Victoire was sure wasn't pegging his fellow teammates against him as Kye's methods were doing.

"What page are we on?" Victoire asked, dropping the books and fluttering her hands about, fed up of trying to shuffle through it with a bitter mind.

"Three hundred and ninety four."

"Thanks." Toire muttered, skimming the pages. "Alright, how much do you know about Nundu breath?"

Winter break couldn't come fast enough.

Luckily for Victoire though, it seemed to speed right up.

It was the second week into winter break and everything was right as rain. The Burrow was crammed full of Weasleys, there was always something cooking and a thick snow had fallen over hill and dale around the town of Ottery St. Catchpole. Christmas was only days away, and already Victoire was scrambling for gifts. Being a Weasley had it's perks at all times; the constant support, the loving environment and the pride of being one of the most famous non-prejudice pureblood families still around. A con of the Weasley clan though, was the issue of gifts when it came to Christmas. Sure, come Christmas day you were loaded down with presents... but you had to distribute your share as well, and Victoire was way behind schedule. At the moment the majority of the house's residents were in the kitchen, finishing off the last of the Christmas baking, all of them surely finished their gift wrapping with only a few days left until the special holiday.

With all the extra guests, space at the Burrow was scarce. She was currently held up in the room she was sharing with Dominique and Molly. Fortunately her sister and cousin spent most of their time in Roxanne's room, so during daylight hours Victoire had the space to herself. That was where she was currently, sitting on the floor of the room that used to be aunt Ginny's, surrounded by heaps of different coloured wrapping paper and dozens of gifts, wrapped and unwrapped. She had taken a moment to breath, sitting crossed legged in a pair of faded torn jeans and a purple Weasley sweater. Head in hands and sloppy ponytail coming undone, she was a few steps away from a breakdown.

_No, Victoire, no. Pull yourself together. It's Christmas for Merlin's sake _she thought, pulling her head up and breathing in sharply through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.

"Right." she said out loud, giving her head a shake. "Focus." She snatched up her willow wand and muttered a quick incantation that directed all the wrapped gifts into one pile and all the unwrapped gifts to another. She already had most of everything she needed; a gift for every family member at least, so it wasn't that bad. There was only one person who remained who she couldn't seem to find the right gift for.

"Typical." she muttered under her breath, slumping back against the bed and blowing a strand of hair out of her face in a frustrated huff. How was she supposed to beat the gift she'd given him last year? When she'd found those old photo albums in the attic she could have sworn she had struck gold. The gift had been so original, so _personal _that to beat it with anything seemed impossible. She looked down at the silver locket she wore around her neck as a reminder of his presence. Today Teddy had gone into town with the gents to pick out and carry over a tree for the house. Nearly all the men had gone, even some of the boys tagging along. Grandma Weasley had insisted on digging out the old wizard camera to take a photo of the momentous occasion, and Victoire personal couldn't wait to see how it turned out. She thought to them now and how they'd looked that morning. A crowd of wizards, trudging through the snow. Teddy had been easy enough to spot, his teal hair sticking out awkwardly from underneith the hat Ginny had knitted for him several years ago, his hands thrust deep into the pockets of his brown bomber jacket. Everything about him seemed to hold her attention, ever after all this time. She would occasionally find herself immersed in the slightest details; a freckle on his arm, a glint of green in his eye, the sharp slant of his nose...

She shook her head again and felt the thoughts go fleeting. _Creepy! You're being creepy! _she told herself. _You're too busy obsessing and you still haven't decided on a gift for him yet! _

_Well_, a different part of her thought lightly as she grabbed an empty glass off the floor and filled it with a jet of water from her wand. _If I completely run out of ideas I could always just kiss him. _

She had been half joking when she'd thought it, but suddenly she felt herself go stiff at the idea, thinking ahead to what it would be like. Christmas day, they would meet before dinner to exchange gifts. She could pull him out into the yard, the snow tumbling around them. Some of it could get caught in his eyelashes as he would look at her through them, confused about why she'd brought him there. _Happy Christmas Teddy, _she would say, pulling his head down to meet hers, parting her lips in expectancy for passion-

The door slammed open with such force that it shook the whole room and Victoire let out a yelp, jumping to her feet and knocking the glass of water all over the floor, the liquid seeping into the carpet and soaking some of the presents. "Shit!" Toire cried, scrambling to save the gifts and hide them at the same time, as the person in the doorway let out an exaggerated growl.

"Victoire" spoke the figure, and upon looking up Toire say it was her sister, clothes rumpled, face red and blonde hair disheveled while looking slightly singed.

"What the hell happened to you?" Toire exclaimed, still shaken from being so forcefully wrenched from her daydream.

"You have _got _to go down there and do something!" Dominique wailed, storming into the room, her face a mask of frustration. "We were all trying to finish up this complicated tart-recipe-thing that involved a load of different spells to settle the jelly or some bullshit and then all of a sudden Louis gets a hold of mum's wand and says some mumbo jumbo which ends up counteracting the spell and now half the tarts are on _fire _and the other half have bloody _jelly _flying everywhere out of them across the kitchen! Mum sent me up here to get you Toire, you've got to come down and _do something!_ Hey, is that my present?"

She spoke the words so fast that Toire hardly had any time to keep up, but luckily she got the message. Scrambling to grab her wand from where she'd dropped it, she half-walked, half-ran after Dominique out of the room and down the stairs to the ground floor, where sure enough she could hear a hell of a commotion coming from the kitchen as well as more than enough cussing and Louis' distressed sobbing.

"DOMINIQUE!" came the screech of Grandma Weasley, who promptly stormed out of the kitchen and right into their path. "WE NEED VICTOI- oh thank goodness, there you are dear." Molly Weasley said, her voice exasperated as she led the girls back into the room. "Louis has done something awful to the tarts and none of us know how to fix it." she explained quickly as they walked. "We figured since you're the Ravenclaw and you took double charms this year that you would be most recently knowledgeable about the whole counter curse. Also, Hermione's not here..."

"I get it it grams." Victoire said just as they reached the entrance. The cries were louder here and it smelled like something sweet was burning. "Exactly how bad is it-"

The doors swung open.

"Oh."

Inside the kitchen, it was chaos. The walls were splattered with multi colored jelly, the counter tops covered in flour and in the air were dozens of tarts, all of them swarming and spurting the sticky liquid on her family members who were all yelling at each other and attempting to destroy the desserts. "CONFRINGO!" could be heard from all sides of the room as aunt Ginny blasted at the tarts, missing by a mile and sending one of the cabinets into splintering smithereens. "GINNY!" Molly shrieked as the wood was sent sliding across the floor. "Sorry mum!" Ginny called back just as Fleur sent out another spell in attempt to settle the flaming tarts that were smouldering on the ground.

_Bugger me..._ Victoire thought to herself before her mind geared into action, searching through her memory for a counter curse.

The tarts didn't seem to be reacting to any type of exploding curse and all the attempts to settle the fire just made the pastries smoulder. If her aunts couldn't figure it out then it must need a spell quite a bit more complicated to stop.

"What was the spell Louis said?" Victoire called out to the others, her eyes darting to her baby brother who was currently hiding under the table, clutching his toy airplane and laughing at the mess that he'd created.

"Something like _tabecidum_?" aunt Angelina offered, blocking a flaming pie with a shield charm.

_Tabecidum... where have I heard that before? _Victoire thought, frustrated. _Tabescet is latin for melt... _

Meanwhile another one of Ginny's hexes had gone haywire, this time hitting the sink and sending a wild jet of water blasting up and ramming into the ceiling that created a flying fountain of droplets. Fleur lept out of the path of a whizzing carton of eggs only to be pelted in the face with a sack of flour while Louis cackled maniacally, and Roxanne started tossing non moving objects right back at the attacking deserts.

_Charms charms charms..._ Victoire thought to herself hastily, dodging a flying glob of jelly which promptly hit Dominique square in the face.

"_ARGG!_" her sister shrieked in frustration, wiping the goo off her brow. "These things are bloody _beasts!_"

_That's it!_

It wasn't a spell from charms that Victoire needed to fix the kitchen, it was one she'd learned in Care of Magical Creatures! The mannerism of the tarts was one similar to a Porsnuckle, a jellyfish commonly found in the tropics that would rise from the waters and send electric currents through the air at its prey, as well as shooting actual jelly. They had learned how to tame them thanks to Hagrid, but also learned how to defend themselves from them, and if they had to- destroy them. The counter curse came instinctively.

Victoire raised her wand just as a glob of jelly collided with the right side of her face.

"DISSIDEO!" she cried, as a blinding flash of white light projected from her wand and lit up the whole kitchen. There was a moment when she couldn't see anything and had to shield her eyes from the blaze. Then, it slowly began to calm, and her eyes adjusted to the regular light. All around the room she could see her aunts and cousins rubbing their eyes and looking around the kitchen hesitantly.

"Are they dead?" Dominique asked from behind Toire, her strawberry blonde hair more frazzled than ever.

"They'd better be." Ginny muttered from the corner as a flour-covered Fleur let out a puffy white cough. Upon further inspection, sure enough the evil tarts had finally been subdued. Their flaking pastry bodies lay scattered across the tiles like some kind of bakery-massacre; leaking red jelly and smoking from little burnt piles of ash. All that remained was possibly the most hazardous, demolished kitchen in all of the UK.

"Lovely." Molly Weasley said weakly, getting to her feet off her spot on the floor where she'd taken cover. Ginny reached under the table and scooped up Louis as the rest of the woman shook off their daze. "You are never touching a wand again, at least until you're eleven." she muttered at the three year old, handing him back to Fleur who began to scold him in harsh french.

"Everyone alright then?" Angelina asked, looking around. Mostly everyone nodded except for Dominique who was just coming to realize the state of her hair with a panicked expression.

"Victoire, you're a lifesaver." Ginny smiled, patting her niece on the shoulder.

"You'll be even happier when this place is cleaned up." Toire mused, taking a look around the kitchen at the smashed cabinets, the stained walls and the pastry wasteland smeared across the tile.

"I know I'll be." Grandma Weasley called from across the room just as she raised her wand, pointing it at the cabinets. "Repar-"

"MOLLY!" came a cry from outside and with a crash the back door was slammed open to reveal a huffing, red faced Arthur Weasley, backed by the enormous crowd of men and boys who had made the journey with him to Ottery St. Catchpole. "We were... coming back..." he panted. "Saw a... flash of light... from the kitchen..." It took him a moment to register the sight, but once he did his face became a contorted mask of confusion and frustration. "What the bloody hell is this!"

There was a shuffling from behind and George stuck his head over Arthur's shoulder. "Bloody hell." he grinned, his eyes taking in the sight and landing on Fleur. "You alright there Fleur?" he asked, ducking past Arthur and leading the rest of the boys into the room. "Look like you've seen a ghost."

Fleur stared at him open mouthed, just as Louis let out the loudest cry yet, a high pitched yelp of amusement. His hand reached over toward his mother's wand that was jutting out of her pocket...

"NO!" All the women yelled at once, just as Victoire erupted into a fit of laughter.

The clean up hardly took any time at all with everyone helping out. After Louis had been properly tucked away for a nap and Fleur had gone up to take a quick shower, everything seemed to fall into place. Shortly after the explanation of what had happened and the witness of every tart-related joke ever written was told by Fred, George and James, the rest of the boys started lugging the tree they'd picked out into the Burrow. They would have used magic, but on top of everything that had already gone on that day the last thing they all needed was for someone to be stabbed in the chest by a tree.

"Hey Toire, can you come out here a sec?" uncle Charlie called from the backdoor as the boys made themselves busy about the kitchen. Charlie had just gotten back from Romania the day prior and was already getting on fantastically with the others even though he hadn't seen them for nearly a year.

"Yeah, no problem."

She slid on a pair of boots and walked down the short steps to the yard, shivering in nothing but her sweater.

"I just need you to give a quick hand and grab the base of the tree." Charlie said, lugging the mid-section of the enormous tree over his shoulder while Fred and James did their best with the top, making sure nobody got skewered.

The thick bushel of branches hide most of the trunk in itself, so Victoire stuck her hands between the branches to feel her way to the bottom when she felt a gloved hand brush her fingers.

"Hey!" came a voice, as Teddy's face popped through the branches, giving her his best goofy grin, his hat pulled down tight over his ears so that only tufts of his bright teal hair stuck out.

"Hi!" she grinned, hoisting the tree with the others and they lifted it high and started toward the house, Teddy's face momentarily hidden.

"You've got jelly on your face." he said, his voice muffled by the giant tree between them.

"Courtesy of my brother." she explained. "Watch the steps."

"I see them."

Together they carried the back end up the steps, through the kitchen and into the sitting room.

"There's not gonna be any space left for people..." Teddy mused as Bill entered the room and started directing them to the recently cleared, empty corner that would just barely hold the tree's girth.

"As long as there's room for presents!" James called out, raising a chuckle from her father and uncle and a smile from Teddy and herself. Taking a wide step back to observe their handy work, the group seemed effortlessly pleased. Sure the tree bent a bit at the top where it was too tall for the room, and the branches had knocked over and shattered a lamp, but those facts were overlookable. "Cheers everyone." Charlie smiled, thumping Fred on the back. Victoire reached up and yanked Teddy's hat off his head, sending water flying off to hit her and her cousins and letting his hair spring up.

"Hey!" he protested merrily as she yanked the toque over her ears and made a face at him. "It's bound to be a very happy Christmas after all..." Bill smiled, leaving the teens to their fun.

And a happy christmas it was.

Christmas morning, Teddy was sound asleep in Ron's old bedroom which he was sharing with James and Al, his hair sticking out at odd angles and snoring. It wasn't until he felt the stabbing pain of knees ramming into his back that he woke up, crying out.

"GET UP TEDDY GET UP GET UP IT'S CHRISTMAS!" came the cries of Albus, Lily and practically all the little cousins. Hugo had leapt onto his back to wake him, but it felt more like someone had slammed a rock into his spine. Looking around blearily he saw the excited smiling faces of the Weasley's, each different in their own way with the exception of the constant smattering of freckles. He counted them off- Hugo, Albus, Lily, James, Lucy, Molly, Fred, Roxanne, Dominique... _Merlin, it's the whole lot of them _he thought. _Who was the genius who decided to wake me up like-_

His thought was cut off like one might break off mid-sentence as he looked up and saw Victoire standing in the doorway, hiding her laughter behind her hand as she watched the younger ones dance and twirl around his bed. Her hair was a mess of tangles and she had pulled her robe on over her pyjamas, but she was Victoire all the same. She watched him notice her and her laughter increased as he pushed himself up on one elbow and mouthed the words _I'm going to kill you_ to her from across the room, barely able to keep a straight face with the kids going bezerk. He forced himself to pull his eyes away from her and his attention back on the young 'uns.

"Okay, okay I'm up!" he said, throwing the blankets off himself to reveal he was only wearing boxer shorts underneath the duvet. The younger kids didn't seem to notice but immediately the girls already at Hogwarts blushed and turned away, doing anything to avert their eyes. Little did he notice, Victoire was drinking in all she could of the sight that came so rarely. Lucy on the other hand was even bothered enough to voice her discomfort openly. "Ew ew ew Teddy, put something on!" she yelled, turning around and flailing her arms.

"Why, do I make you uncomfortable Luce?" he asked, laughing as he grabbed a pair of rumpled sweatpants that were discarded on the floor and yanking them on.

"You're practically _naked_!" she said, her eyes still covered while she waited for him to change.

"Ready for presents chaps?" he announced loudly to get their attention as he pushed off the bed, standing tall over them all. There was a loud chorus of "PRESENTS!" and the kids booked it out the door giving Toire just enough time to get out of the way before being trampled by the mob. Teddy grabbed a shirt out of a drawer and walked over to Victoire.

"Happy Christmas." he grinned, swinging a toned arm over her shoulder and pulling her in for a half-hug.

"To you too." she smiled, wrapping an arm around his waist as they walked out into the hall. Peering down over the banister at the five floors below, they could hear the traveling heard of children thud and stomp their way down stair after stair until they got to the living room.

"Ready for a long day?" he asked her, taking a step toward the stairs. He would have gone further, but she held out an arm to pull him back. He quirked an eyebrow in question.

"Lucy's right you know." she teased. "You're practically naked."

"I thought you liked my six pack." he grinned, putting his hands behind his head and stretching intentionally so she could see every ridge of muscle on his tan, toned chest.

He could see a pinch of a blush flow to her cheeks, but she did a good job at distracting from it by punching him in the stomach.

"It's not for me, you flirt." she smiled, skipping ahead to the stairs before turning around. "You know how Lucy is. Having Percy as a father must be bad enough, she doesn't need anymore emotional scarring." she winked before disappearing round the banister, leaving Teddy to hastily put his shirt on and race after her.

Contrary to what Teddy said earlier, the day didn't turn out to be that long. Presents went by quickly, even though by the end of it everyone was practically drowning in wrapping paper and the room was so hot due to body heat that they had to open all the windows. Tucked in beside the tree with Teddy for company, Toire had made a pile of her gifts, some of which included; a new Weasley sweater from her grandmother, this one a navy blue with the bronze eagle of Ravenclaw stitched on the breast, a stack of new and useful charms books from Hermione and Ron ("She picked them out." Ron had said, nodding toward his wife.), a brilliant broom tending kit from Percy, surprisingly, the usual box of goodies from George, a pair of specialized gloves from Charlie ("They're fire resistant!") and her own, never before touched snitch from Harry and Ginny ("I always said you were a seeker."). She was positively thrilled at the generosity of her family that year, and although all the gifts were amazing, nothing could have topped the present her parents had gotten her.

It was hidden deep behind the tree so that she didn't even notice it until Lily brought it to her while they were all going through their very last gifts. Immediately her jaw dropped open at the wrapping. It's not very hard to disguise a broom.

Tearing open the paper and pushing it back eagerly, she could hear every Quidditch player in the room gasp along with her as she marveled at the broom.

"The Firebolt _Crossfire_." Teddy whispered beside her, equally in awe of the almost luminous broom before them. "Newest ride on the market."

The _Crossfire_ was unlike any broom Victoire had ever seen. It's ebony handle was embellished with flecks of silver, giving it a starry look like no other broom of its level. The tail twigs were a gleaming birch that was almost black at the top, descending into the wood's natural white tone.

"Not only does it look good..." Bill said smugly, clearly pleased that everyone was taking so much interest in his gift. "... but it's the fastest thing in the sky as well. You'll have no problem out racing those other seekers."

"It's got similar looks to the Nimbus 2001..." Ron and Harry were discussing, the two of them taking in the broom. "I'm totally stealing that for test run later."

"Maman, dad..." Victoire was speechless. "This is... bloody _brilliant_! Thank you! So so much!" she leapt up and hugged her parents. This day was getting better every minute.

Finally, when the snow had fallen, the wrappings put away, the _Crossfire _tested and the enormous dinner served and eaten, Victoire found herself back in her room. It was well past midnight and another Christmas had passed. After supper and pudding the family had retired to the sitting room where they'd all gathered around the old radio and listened to Molly Weasley's holiday favorites. One by one the kids had drifted off to sleep, followed by the younger teens who had stumbled up to their rooms to fall off into dreamless sleeps. Now Victoire lay in her bed, thoughts of the day running through her head like a movie on fast-forward that kept jamming at one particular scene. Right before dinner when she and Teddy would usually exchange their gifts, he had approached her hastily.

"Can we do the whole gift-thing later?" he'd asked her, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. "Your gift sort of has some specifics."

She had smiled and told him that that was fine with her as long as it didn't involve any jelly. She had waited all night for him to pull her away to do the exchange, and they had had the opportunity time and time again. But for whatever reason, he had always passed it up. Now as the clock chimed one, and no matter how hard she wished against it... Christmas was over.

Rolling over in bed, she closed her eyes and willed sleep to come. It wouldn't be hard. She just had to calm her mind and listen to the soothing sounds around her. Dominique's soft snoring, the quiet creaking of the house, the repeated tapping against her window...

She froze.

_The repeated tapping against my window? _

Bolting up in bed and grabbing her wand, she looked toward the glass and her heart stopped in fright...

...and then slowly restarted again. Because on the other side of the glass, grinning at her like... well, like a kid on Christmas, was Teddy Lupin.

Throwing aside the covers she hurried from the bed to the window, doing her best not to wake her sister and cousin. She lifted the glass with a pop of suction and was hit instantly by the cold night air.

"What the hell are you doing?" she whispered, her hair tumbling down around her and catching the breeze. He let slip a sly smile, the broom he sat on swaying slowly.

"Care for a fly down memory lane?"

Their eyes connected for a split second and she swore she could hear both their heartbeats.

"Let me get my robe."

She braced her hands on the side of the window and looked out uneasily.

"This seemed so much easier when I was ten." she murmured, swinging one leg out the window and reaching for the broom Teddy was on.

"Well to your defence, you were seven years younger." he shrugged. "Also, it was a different window."

She let out a small yelp as she pushed away from the side of the house just in time to land snugly behind Teddy on the broom as it wavered considerably at the extra weight.

"Um..." She wrapped her arms around his midsection quickly, looking over the edge. "Are you sure this thing is gonna take both our weight?"

"_This thing?_" Teddy repeated, his voice carrying mock insult. "You know, just because you're now the proud owner of a _Crossfire _doesn't mean you can just go around calling other people's brooms 'things', Victoire."

"My greatest apologizes." she said, rolling her eyes substantially. "Can your precious _broom_ hold both our weight?"

"Well let's find out shall we?" he said, and before she could protest he kicked it into top gear and they shot off like a bullet. She let out a scream and grabbed him tighter, holding on to his middle more for the need of something solid than to feel his abs, although that was a great bonus. He laughed out loud, his body shaking with the sound and she couldn't help but feel it's contagiousness. It was only a matter of seconds before she was laughing too, her body surging with adrenaline as they rose higher and higher over treetops and the Burrow.

The moon was nearly full that night and it cast a long shadow over everything. The snow on the trees made the world seem ten times bigger and she felt like she was truly in a winter wonderland that night. TIlting her head back to see the clear sky, her breath made puffs of fog in against the black, and she leaned her head forward against Teddy's shoulder.

"Just like old times." she whispered, more to herself than to him but he picked up on it just the same.

"Merry Christmas, Victoire." he murmured, leaning his head against hers as they picked speed for yet another lap around the Burrow, leaving nothing but cloudy breath behind.

"Sorry this is such a cheap present." he added, once they'd gone almost a mile.

"Oh shut it." she said, poking him in the ribs. "It's perfect."

She could practically feel him blushing. "Yeah, well..." he mumbled, at a loss for words for once.

"Teddy?"

"Hmm?"

She paused for a brief moment, contemplated what she was about to do. _Is this right? Is it a good idea?_

"I... my gift to you, it's... it's not much."

She felt him sigh and he turned his head slightly so he could just see her out of the corner of his eye. "Toire, whatever it is I'll love it. I promise."

Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she could swear that he felt it. _This is a bad idea, I shouldn't be doing this... I'm not ready. We're not ready. What if everything I thought was wrong?_

He must have detected her silence because he spoke up again.

"Toire?"

"I love you."

There. There, it was out. It was said. She sat behind him, ridged as stone, no longer feeling his muscles under her arms, no longer feeling his warmth. She was made of stone and all she wanted was for him to say it back.

She waited. And waited. And waited some more. Seconds past and he didn't say anything, didn't do anything, barely breathed, blinked, spoke, _moved._

_Oh God,_ she thought. _He doesn't love me. What have I done? I've ruined everything, what have I done?_

She could have sworn she heard him breathe then, like he was about to speak, but she couldn't bear to hear him reject her, couldn't stand to hear him break her heart. So she said the only words she knew that could fix it.

"I..." she spoke again, forcing her lips to move, anything to break the silence. "I love you... you're my best friend. I'll always love you as my best friend. As my family."

They floated.

If she thought she had been cold before, it was nothing compared to this. If she had been stone, then he was ice- just as hard, and colder.

_What have I done, what have I done..._ the words would not leave her. She needed to hear him speak, to say anything. The wind whistled through the trees and she shivered in her spot.

"Your friend." he said finally, his voice surprisingly steady. Victoire lept at the chance to further clarify.

"Yes." she said hastily, feeling a pang of regret as she spoke it. "My best friend."

And then as if to make this clear, to seal the deal, she gave him a stiff hug around the middle before dropping her arms awkwardly. She heard him let the air out of his lungs, saw it as a stream of cloudy breath in the air slowly drift away.

"I'll always be your friend, Victoire." he said stiffly, and she feared she had made him so uncomfortable by her words that her fears had been right- they would never be the same.

"It's getting cold." he said softly, his voice tinged with something darker. "I think we should go in."


	34. Dye Job

"_Do not _try and tell me nothing happened over Christmas, Victoire. Obviously there was something. I can see it all over your face!"

It was well past noon on their first day back to school of the new year, and GInger, Toire and Marcy were in the Gryffindor dormitories helping Marcy unpack her trunk. They had the whole room to themselves for privacy, and Marcy had even offered to break out the fire whisky again if it meant getting Victoire to spill her secrets.

"It's nothing." Victoire said for what must have been the hundredth time. She was laying face up on Marcy's bed, staring intently at the picture of Clyde that Marcy had taped to the ceiling of her four poster. It was starting to feel kind of creepy, so she sat up and flipped to her stomach.

"You're doing that thing again where you pretend you can just shake us off from pestering you." Ginger mused, sitting on the edge of the windowsill and picking her teeth with a fingernail. "It never works."

"Because you always think there's something to tell!" Toire objected, slamming her palm down half heartedly on the bed so it bounced and fell limply beside her.

"There's _always _something to tell with _Tedtoire_." Marcy said, pulling a stack of books out of her trunk and dropping them in the pile she had marked "school".

Victoire sat up straight. "_What _did you just say?"

Marcy's face split into a smile. "You know, _Tedtoire_. Some third year came up with it. It's all over the school."

"Oh my _God!" _Victoire moaned, falling back into the pillow and covering her face with it. Ginger gave a long roll of her eyes and crossed her legs.

"_Whmm thmm hmm am I gmm to dmm?"_

"Pardon?" Ginger smirked. Victoire threw the pillow aside and spat out a feather. "I said, _what the hell am I going to DO_? I can't have people keep talking like this when there's nothing, and now I have to deal with-"

Marcy let out a frustrated sigh and reached out in front of her, slamming her trunk shut. The sound made Toire flinch a little from her spot on the bed and she looked at her friend hesitantly.

"Seriously Victoire?" Marcy said, agitated. "What are you going to do? Well here's an idea for you. What if you, I dunno, TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL! I MEAN IT'S ONLY BEEN SIX YEARS FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"

She broke off and grabbed the bridge of her nose, breathing in deeply. Victoire was still frozen on the bed, never having seen Marcy like this before.

"Wow." Ginger mused, standing up and going to Marcy's underwear drawer. "There's that Gryffindor rage I keep hearing about." She pulled out the stored bottle of firewhiskey and popped the top, taking a swig of it herself before passing it down to her friend, who reached out weakly to take the bottle. Marcy took a gulp and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Sorry." she breathed out raggedly. "It's just... it get really frustrating listening to you sometimes Victoire. We're trying to _help _you here, and you keep complaining and pushing us away. You make such a huge deal out of the littlest things."

Toire sat on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chin, looking at both her friends who stood across from her.

"Do you both feel this way?" she asked them quietly, looking to Ginger. The other Ravenclaw sighed and ran a hand through her curls. "I love you Toire, but Marcy's right. You've got to stop worrying about what other people are saying about you, and focus more on what your friends are saying. On what _Teddy _is saying, if you're so worried about it."

Victoire crossed her arms around her knees and sighed into them. "Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize!" Ginger exclaimed, jumping up on the bed and wrapping her arms around her friend. "Just worry about yourself. Other people don't matter."

"Except us." Marcy butted in, sliding up to Toire's other side and and hugging her. "We're the ones that really care about you. Us and Teddy, of course."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Victoire said quietly, snagging her friends' attention. "The might have been a _slight _incident over break." she winced, as Ginger scrambled away to sit across from her.

"Well spit it out, girl! Tell us everything!"

So she did. She told them about how Christmas had been amazing, even all the way down to the flaming tart fiasco. Things had been going great between her and Teddy and she had been able to talk to him smoother than she could ever remember. It felt amazing to have her best friend back as well as someone she had feelings for. She told them about his plan to exchange gifts later on, and they sighed on cue when she told them about him showing up at the window, skimming briefly over the explanation of the first time they'd ridden the broom together.

"So we're out there flying around and everything is perfect." she confessed. "I couldn't think of a better time to... give him my _present_... so I told him."

"Told him what?" Marcy asked, eager in anticipation.

"I told him I love him."

The reaction from her friends was instant. "Oh my _God!"_ Ginger squealed, her hands covering her mouth. "Victoire, that's amazing!" Marcy cried. "That's what I've been hoping you'd do for ages! What happened next? Was it perfect?"

"Well..." she said, feeling an increasing twist in her gut. "...no. He actually didn't say anything." She watched as her friend's expressions slowly changed from elated to confused as she spurted out the rest of the explanation. "He didn't say anything so I... I had to fix it, I couldn't ruin our friendship by letting him think I was in love with him and not love me back! It would ruin everything we have, and it would just be this awkward mess, so I told him that he was the best friend I could have ever asked for. That I'll always love him like a friend. Like family."

She waited for her friends to react while they processed the information. As hard as she tried, she couldn't read their expressions until Ginger finally gave in and burst.

"OH MY GOD! VICTOIRE!"

"Ahhh! What!" she said, flinching back at the look of disbelief on Ginger's face. "What is it! I'm sorry!"

"I SERIOUSLY WANT TO PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE RIGHT NOW!"

"OH MY GOD I'M SORRY!" Victoire screamed, backing up and shielding herself with her hands as Ginger fell backwards on the bed and slapped a hand to her forehead.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Toire repeated, peaking out from between her fingers to where Ginger was sprawled and Marcy was sitting cross legged with her head in her hands. "Toire..." she groaned in frustration while Victoire hid behind her knees once again.

"Sorry." she meeped.

"Alright, hold on now." Marcy continued, pretending she hadn't heard her friend. "You said he didn't say anything. How long did you wait before you butted in?"

She felt herself blush red that went straight to her ears. "About twelve seconds." she said softly.

"Merlin's pants!" Ginger cried from her spot on the bed, swinging up to face her friend. "Victoire!" she said, her voice dripping with desperate frustration. "I know Teddy! I've seen the way he looks at you! Honestly, he was probably just taken off guard by what you said and trying to think of something to say in response!"

She felt her face go slack. Could that be possible? Had he really been that shocked? Knowing Teddy and how he was prone to react to things... The timing had been perfect, everything had been perfect and she had _ruined it _with her lack of confidence and stupid big mouth! That intake of breath he'd made- it wasn't to reject her, it was to _confess his feelings to her!_ She could feel her eyes widening at each second's realization and the smug looks her friends gave her as they saw her seeing the truth.

"Oh my God." she breathed. Then, completely unexpected, she slammed her head back toward the pillow, but instead of her head being swallowed by feathers and sheets, she undershot and got a splitting pain through her cranium courtesy of her headboard.

"Arggg!" she yelled, grabbing the back of her head in pain.

"Holy shit, are you okay!" Marcy gasped, rushing forward.

"Karma..." Ginger muttered before stepping in to help. Victoire slumped down to her mattress, cursing violently.

Pain or no pain, all Toire could seem to think of at that moment while her eyes watered at the discomfort of wood-on-skull was her complete stupidity and obliviousness in to world of romance and boys. No matter what Fifi had taught her, she still had a hell of a lot to learn.

The morning of the Gryffindor versus Slytherin game was clear and brisk, but when Teddy looked out the window of his dormitory he could see the storm clouds rolling in.

"Looks like a wild one." Jensen mused, pulling his red and gold Quidditch garb over his head before turning toward the door. "You coming down for breakfast?" he asked, one hand on the door knob, the other trying to flatten his hair to no avail.

"I'll be down in a minute." Teddy replied, turning his head back to the window before he could see Jensen nod. He knew his friend had left when he heard the click of the lock in the doorframe and it wasn't until then that he turned round to face the empty room. Standing at a good couple of inches over six foot, Teddy was well known throughout the school by sight and personality. Godson of Harry Potter, orphan to a werewolf and an auror, close personal friend of the famous Weasleys and now captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team... he had a lot to live up to. Usually it was pretty easy. All he had to do was be himself, and friends and glory seemed to follow. People liked him for his humor, his wit, cunning and charm... and he liked being liked. Being one of the "It" kids of Hogwarts definitely had it's perks. But for some reason today, with one of the biggest matches of his Quidditch career just hours away, he couldn't bring himself to live up to those expectations.

_It's all her fault, _he thought to himself spitefully, but then shook his head to clear the bitter notion. That's what he told himself when he was feeling particularly bad about the Christmas incident, but the sensation always passed. In truth, he couldn't blame her for anything. Maybe it was him- maybe he wasn't what she was looking for... but still, it bothered him to no end that he hadn't even had the chance to tell her how he felt. He'd just been so surprised when she'd said the words. _"I love you_." It had been like a dream. So much so in fact, that he had thought he'd imagined her saying it... until he realized he was wrong, that is was real. But by then it was too late.

Frustrated, he walked over to his bed and reached under the mattress, feeling around until his hand grabbed what he was looking for. He pulled out the photo album she had given him last Christmas. He'd already looked through the book half a hundred times, but it never got old. Not truly, with all the photos moving and smiling at him. He flipped to a particular page at the back that Victoire had filled with photos of their own group of friends after the ones of the Order of the Phoenix finally stopped. He'd even added a few of his own.

Flipping a few more pages, he finally landed on his all time favorite. It was one of the ones Victoire had sent him from France last summer when she'd gone to her aunt's wedding. It was originally just a shot of a hallway in Gabrielle's villa, but then there was that familiar flash and Victoire was there like she always was- an actress playing her part in a moment in time. He could practically recite the movements- Run, stop, turn. The sleeve of her dress slips off her shoulder and her face is a mask of surprise. She pulls herself together and flashes the camera a smile, and then she's off again with a final swish of her hair.

"_I love you." _

I word seemed to repeat in his head over and over again- a broken record going on forever.

"..._as a friend"_

He didn't know how he was going to get through this match.

After Victoire's head had been inspected to make sure she hadn't fractured her skull or done any serious damage ("Nothing could damage that mind much further anyway" Ginger had said) the girls hurried down to the Great Hall to grab something for breakfast before going off to the pitch to get good seats. They entered the hall and immediately caught sight of Jensen, Clyde and Sean sitting together at the Gryffindor table.

"Oi, there's your men." Victoire said, nudging her friends and cracking a smile. Marcy smiled in return and Ginger blushed while cracking a grin. "Sod off..." she mumbled, but hurried toward them all the same.

"Our men, certainly." Marcy said as the two of them followed her to the table, watching as she slid in beside Sean and leaned over to grab some toast while strategically giving him the perfect angle to look down her shirt. "But where's yours?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as they reached the boys.

She was right. Hurriedly, Victoire took a look around the hall, scanning for turquoise hair. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs remained in their usual state of pre-game excitement while the Slytherins seemed to be making a rather large commotion over the anticipation of the match. She could just see Max Northwick in the midst of giving some sort of pump-up speech to his house, drilling his fist into an empty hand to emphasize the point of something. Where was Teddy? He should be doing the same thing- giving his house mates and teammates something to believe in! This was his first game as captain, and he was just going to let that pass by?

"Where's Teddy?" she asked, sliding into the seat beside Jensen. From the look he gave her, she guessed he could detect some of the anxiety in her voice. "Still in the room I guess." he shrugged, smearing marmalade on his toast. "He said he'd be right down, I don't know why he's not here by now..."

She gave the hall another hasty look before turning toward the table. Despite the spread of eggs, toast, jam, hash browns, pancakes and various other early morning goodies, she couldn't bring herself to consume more than a swallow of pumpkin juice.

"You alright Victoire?" Clyde asked from across the table, eyeing her strangely. Sean and Ginger were too distracted "not looking at each other" to notice.

"I'm fine." she said hastily, her voice strained. She took a nibble of toast as if to prove her point. Now that she knew Teddy still might have feelings for her, everything suddenly seemed brighter, her senses heightened. She was more alert and if possible, more on edge.

"Not coming down with a case of the Teddys are you?" Clyde joked, shoveling eggs into his mouth.

Victoire's head whipped in his direction. "A case of that _what_?"

"The Teddys!" Clyde smiled, his mouth still full of egg. "Tell 'er Sean!" he said, elbowing his friend in the shoulder and jolting him from sneaking a glance at Ginger.

"Oh, um, it's just this gag we came up with." Sean shrugged, taking a drink of his orange juice. "Ever since term's started up again Teddy's just been acting really strangely. Doesn't talk much, always seems really distracted... you know, it's unlike him."

_The Teddys? _Victoire thought to herself, horrified. She had hardly spoken to words to him since they'd gotten back, and seen almost less. Was it really as bad as they said? And if it was and Teddy really was different... would he be able to change back?

There was a sudden clinking from the head table. The Great Hall quietly gradually and Professor McGonagall rose from her seat, overlooking the students. "Would the Quidditch captains please lead their teams down to the pitch now to begin preparations for today's game." she said, her thick scottish accent ringing out across the hall. "The rest of you will be dismissed shortly to maintain proper seats in the stands."

Across the hall at the Slytherin table, the team began to rise. Northwick was up first, looking over at the Gryffindor table probably with the hopes of flipping Teddy off a final time before their match... but his face soon turned to a frown as he noticed Teddy's lack of presence. Others were beginning to notice as well as the rest of the Gryffindor team stood up. It took only a few moments of searching before the rest of them realized that there was absolutely no turquoise haired boy in attendance.

A nervous muttering began to rise from the Gryffindor table and make its way across the hall as the students tittered and looked about for the red and gold leader. Five minutes passed, each second without Teddy passing through Victoire like a knife to the stomach. Her nerves were almost at an end when it hit the six minute mark and the Gryffindor players were debating loudly weather to continue on without him when there was a cry from the end of the table. Everyone looked up toward the voice to see someone pointing at a figure who had just entered the room. Just over six foot, lean with muscle and glad all in Gryffindor red and gold- but his hair wasn't it's usual teal. Instead this boy had a mop of limp dull brown hair that lay flat and dull over his head. Victoire felt her heart plummet.

"Sorry I'm late." Teddy said to his team, stopping directly behind Victoire as everyone at the table gave a sigh of relief. She glanced up at him, seeing the dark circles under his eyes and the light stubble on his face. Her heart clenched and she felt a surge of guilt. He seemed to sense her eyes on him, because he glanced down suddenly and blushed when their eyes met. She wanted to hold them there, to tell him she was sorry and that she's lied- but he looked away too fast. "Hey." he muttered in greeting, avoiding her gaze.

"Hi." she said, her voice almost cracking. She wanted to stand up and hold him, grab him right there and tell him to snap out of it, tell him she was wrong and that all she wanted in the world was for him to love her as much as she loved him. She almost opened her mouth to speak she was so determined, but Clyde broke in quicker.

"Nice dye job." he joked, and for a minute Teddy looked confused before a strand of hair fell in his eyes. "Oh." he said, his confusion turning to embarrassment and frustration. Clearly this change of appearance wasn't planned.

"Come on," Jensen said, standing up. "we're gonna be late already. McGonagall's about to let the students down." he said, elbowing Teddy toward the door. There was a hurried chorus of "Good luck!" from the Gryffindor table and with a half hearted wave the team was gone, taking Teddy with them, Victoire's pre-planned words dying on her lips.

Sure enough, Jensen was right. A minute later McGonagall rose again to dismiss the the rest of the students who hurriedly made their way toward the grounds, shoving on jackets and wrapping up in scarves. Once outside, Victoire fell into step beside Ginger, the two of them keeping pace as the Quidditch pitch grew larger and larger in the distance. "Did you see him?" Victoire asked, her voice strained. "He looked terrible."

"A broken heart'll do that to you." she shrugged as Victoire scowled at her.

"You're really not going to let me out of this easily are you?" she asked her friend.

"Hey, you're the one who jumped to conclusions." Ginger said, holding her hands up defensively. "Let's just hope he plays better than he looks."

**Alright, so a bit of a short chapter this one. I was originally just going to keep going, but I'm leaving for vacation for three weeks tomorrow and I wanted to leave you with at least _something_ before then. Sorry it's so glum. **

**But I've gotta say, I've absolutely LOVED reading your reactions to the previous chapter! I found it really interesting how some of you sided with Toire and some sided with Teddy, and then how some of you got really frustrated, etc etc. It's exactly the sort of reaction I was hoping for :P **

**If I had to make an estimated guess, I would say that we've got about... sevennn? chapters left in this story? Maybe? I'm not sure, I'm bad with these things. I've got the plot all figured out but sometimes I take a short bit and end up making it extra long, or I do a spur of the moment thing like messing up Toire and Teddy's perfect broom ride (it was originally scripted as "Christmas family burrow thing with teasing from relatives and maybe a mistletoe moment as well as some super cute cuddles and a midnight snowy broom ride" SORRY GUYS!)**

**You're the best readers I could ever hope for though. Your support has been way better than I deserve with my terrible infrequent updates. So thank you. So so so so much. **

**See you in three weeks,**

**Calla**


	35. Do It For Me

The sky was a palette of grey and white as the girls made their way out toward the pitch, their robes flapping like wings in the cold. The raw chill bit at Victoire's face as she tried desperately to calm the churning in her stomach and settle the feeling of oncoming doom that seemed to be snapping at her heels. In the sky ahead she could see some of the players flying high above the stadium, getting a few warm up laps in before the game. From the distance they approached, she couldn't tell whose side they were playing for, but she hoped that one of them were Teddy. Maybe the winter air would snap him back into his usual spirit. As much as she wished, she couldn't help but doubt it.

"I see a spot!" Ginger called as they joined the packed throng entering the stands. Throwing a glance at Victoire and Marcy, she gave them a sly smile before turning back to the object at hand. "Sean, quick, help me grab them before somebody else does!" she called to the boy, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along, much to his surprise. Victoire watched the two of them climb the stairs, Ginger laughing as Sean stumbled and blushed along behind her, following her every move, attempting to mimic each step.

"Well at least Ginger's got her priorities straight." Marcy chuckled, looping her arm through Clyde's as the two of them followed, taking the stairs two at a time. Victoire waited behind for a moment, before moving to follow with a mixed feeling in her stomach and a foul taste in her mouth.

"Ladies and gents!" boomed a voice through the pitch just as Victoire took her seat between her two friends. She couldn't help but notice the two of them snuggling up to their separate partners to keep warm. She on the other hand, had never felt colder. She turned her attention to the familiar voice of Pierce Jordan instead to distract her from the gripping chill. "We've got yet another marvelous game lined up for you today- the first of the New Year! And what a year it's turning out be! Already we've seen the Slytherin get their arses whipped by Ravenclaw-"

"Jordan I swear, this is your last warning-" McGonagall interrupted from somewhere in the stadium but Pierce went on. "Ah, relax professor it's only good friendly banter. Now where were we, ah yes, Slytherin's history of loss… and now a new shot for Gryffindor! Let's get them out here people, how about a huge cheer for the red and gold!"

There was an eruption of noise from the Gryffindor end and Victoire stood and screamed along with the rest of them, thinking that maybe out there Teddy would be able to hear her things would go differently. "We've got a sparkling new team lined up for you all this year, captained by none other than the teal-man himself, Teddy Lupin!"

The crowd grew louder as the Gryffindors made their entrance at this cue, the newest players coming in first as Pierce listed their names off in order, giving them all their moment for fame as they beamed and waved to the crowd. They didn't seem that bad… maybe Teddy had built up the necessity to give them a victory speech after all…

Those were the thoughts running through her head when he stepped onto the field.

Immediately she could tell something was wrong, and she wasn't the only one. With such a title as "the teal-man", you would think he would be living up to it. But this was a different Teddy than Victoire was used to. One that she only saw very rarely, and even then he was kept close to himself. The Teddy standing on the field, waving half heartedly to the crowd and clutching his broom tightly was, first off, definitely not the teal-man. His hair was brown- a dull flat version of the shade. His body was held differently as well; not the usual confident stride he usually entered the pitch with, now he walked with slower steps, weaker and not as straight. Not as proud.

Had she done all of this?

Down on the field Max Northwick called something across the grass to Teddy. He showed no recognition of the comment, whatever it was, although there was a new tension on the field, one between the Gryffindor members… but not against Slytherin. Their uncomfortable stance seemed to be directed at their captain. Before Victoire could voice this opinion though, the piercing note of the whistle echoed around the pitch and Pierce's voice boomed with the chant of the fans.

"And they're off!" he said as the players kicked upward, soaring foot after foot into the freezing wind. Up above the clouds were swarming in circles, almost directly over the pitch at the brooms and their riders disappeared into the sky and the quaffle was sent into play.

"It's Slytherin who picks it up now for the start of today's match, obtained by Richards who's sailing down the pitch. Looks like Northwick's got them starting a play already, take note of that Gryffindor- AH lovely interception by new chaser Brighton, what a way to get your name on the field, cheers there mate!"

Fourth year Jack Brighton kept the quaffle tucked tightly under his arm as he did a wide lap around the stadium with two chasers on his tail. Shooting toward the opposite goalposts he sent a smile toward Pierce's stand just in time to receive a bludger to the back of the head and send him spinning, losing all control of the ball.

"Direct hit from Xavier Cross of Slytherin, dodgy move if you ask me," Pierce noted, earning a look from McGonagall, "but- now here's Lupin flying on his way to recover!"

The entire population of the Gryffindor stand seemed to lean forward, holding their breath as Teddy soared towards the rapidly falling ball.

"Come on Teddy." Victoire whispered, egging him on in her mind, seeing how easy a catch this was and smiling internally at the knowledge that he wasn't going to let his shabby appearance get in the way of his playing.

That was until he fumbled the ball.

There was a loud gasp, and then a moan that echoed across the stadium, followed by a chorus of cheering from the Slytherin side. The Gryffindors looked like they could barely believe it. Pierce Jordan could barely believe it.

"I… Not sure what happened there folks, must have just been a bad cross breeze… Never the less, the game is still going and we'll see Gryffindor recover that play soon! Now it's Northwick having recovered that quaffle – passes to McKinnon who sails down the pitch toward the goalposts, takes a shot - faked it - doubles again – keeper dives – SLYTHERIN SCORE!"

The green and silver clad end of the stands went wild. And despite Pierce's promise of Gryffindor reclaiming the lead, the red and gold struggled from there on out.

Twenty more minutes into the game it was getting obvious that this wasn't the team the school was used to.

"Here's another chance for Gryffindor – it's Thomas with the quaffle headed toward the rings – she's flanked on all sides – passes to Brighton – FUMBLE, OH COME ON NOW RED GET YOUR GAME TOGETHER!"

And it didn't stop there.

The weather continued to storm as the game went on and not far after the quarter mark of the match it started to hail. Students in the crowd pulled up their hoods to protect themselves from the ice and chill but out on the field the tough flecks of snow did nothing to improve Gryffindor's game considering they had no protection and no motivation.

"Teddy again with the quaffle, dodging and playing the defense, ready to pass up the field – OH harsh ram by Northwick there, nothing serious and… wait, _did he just drop the quaffle?_"

What had looked like a simple shoulder collision courtesy of Max Northwick had ended with Teddy simply letting the ball drop and fall into the arms of a Slytherin chaser. Within moments she had scored, much to the moans and groans of the fed up Gryffindor stands.

"This is ridiculous." Came a mutter to Victoire's left. She had been keeping her face in her hands for the past five minutes ever since Teddy practically handed the quaffle to a Slytherin chaser much to the conflicted cursing of the rows of students around her. Now she looked toward Marcy who the voice had come from. She was staring ahead through the hail, her gaze hard and frustrated, Clyde's arm still wrapped firmly around her waist although she didn't seem to notice at this point.

"You've got to do something." She said, turning to Victoire. She felt her stomach drop.

"_Me?" _  
>"Yes <em>you, <em>don't give me that, you know it just as well as I do. You're the only one who can fix this. And you know you need to fix it. Might as well be now so maybe we can collect a piece or two of Teddy's dignity."

"What am I supposed to do though?" Victoire objected weakly, her head still in the argument but her heart already halfway to Teddy.

"There's halftime in less than five minutes. Get in there. Talk to him. Tell him what he needs to hear."

The thought it self sent nerves through her core like they were comets, darting into orbit.

But, although it sent pangs of panic through her body, Victoire knew Marcy was right. She had to do something, and it was about time, she told herself, that she finally stopped pretending. Time to stop pretending she wasn't loved. That he didn't care about her. _Of course _he cared about her. That much should have been obvious, and if he was brave enough to show it so openly, then she owed it to him to tell him the truth. Or at least as close to it as she could muster up the courage to do so.

When the whistle blew for the end of the first half, the players from each team landed in a contrast of extreme quantities. The Slytherins were down first, sliding off their brooms with a confident air about them, laughing and nodding at each other encouragingly. Victoire could see Max greet his team with a shouted remark of some sort that they cheered at before waving to the crowd and disappearing into the change room for what Toire was sure would involve them listening to another of Max's Gryffindor bashing pep talks.

The other team was a completely different story. They landed clumsily, like their impending loss was a weight on their shoulders that had taken away even the basics of their Quidditch knowledge. Teddy was the last to hit the ground, and even from the distance she could see the misery on his face. His team didn't even bother waiting for him as they disappeared into the change room. Marcy gave her a pointed look and raised her eyebrows.

"Alright, alright." Victoire breathed, her voice wavering as she stood between her friends in the stands. "I'll be right back."

Back in the Gryffindor change room, the red and gold mates were not following usual procedure. Instead of grouping together to form their second play, they were scattered, looking through lockers for nothing, wasting time until they'd have to proceed back onto the pitch. No one looked like they wanted to look at each other so much as talk, so Teddy had retreated to the bench to broad in a mix of misery. It wasn't that he wanted to lose- that wasn't possible- he just couldn't seem to get it right. The reaction from his housemates in the stands had been obvious- they were clearly furious with him. He felt a wave of shame as he thought of Brice Jolsbee, the previous Gryffindor captain who had given him the position for this year. Surely he let him down…

"Teddy?" came a voice from across the room. He looked up through his hair to see where the voice had come from and immediately froze. Victoire was waiting by the doorway, bundled up in winter clothes with Gryffindor colours painted on her face under her eyes. Her cheeks were pink from the cold and her hair a mess of waves from the wind. She took a step forward, drawing some stares, and even glares, from the Gryffindor players. "Can I talk to you?" she asked, her voice holding a strength of determination. He was taken aback by her no-bullshit attitude and so as if in a trance, he stood to follow her into the corridor.

"Hey." She said, once they were alone, turning to face him, her head tilting up to see his eyes. He swallowed, not knowing exactly why she was here.

"Hi." He replied, voice hesitant.

"You're playing like shit out there."

The criticism hit him hard even though he knew it was true. Still, he felt himself becoming angry.

"Yeah, I'm aware of that thanks." He snapped, hair turning to a darker red as a frown creased his brow. "If that's all you came down here to tell me, I'd much rather get back to my team now." He said, turning to go. He was almost facing away when he felt her grab hold of his arm, hard.

"Wait." She said, her voice cracking slightly. He froze momentarily but willed himself to turn. Immediately he was confused by what he saw on her face. She seemed to be conflicting with herself on what to say, and then it came out in a jumble.

"Remember what I said at Christmas when we were on the broom about how I loved you like a brother well I was really tired and crazy and I wasn't thinking straight Teddy and I think, well I pretty much know I was wrong." She blurted. He watched her recover, confusion hitting him hard but then turning to clarity as he watch her cheeks burn with a blush. Suddenly her words made since.

"So… wait, you're saying-"

"I was wrong." She said, taking a step toward him. He felt his face warm at how close she was, but couldn't move a muscle to step back or forward. "I lied, and I was so, so wrong." She confessed. "Just… forget everything I said that night. Nothing has changed."

Teddy couldn't believe it. He opened his mouth to speak, "Victoire, I-"

"We're on again Teddy." Came a voice from behind them. Suddenly it was as if a rush of cold hair had blown over them, ending the sudden passion that he had felt in Victoire's words.

"I have to go." He said reluctantly, looking back to where the player had now disappeared without waiting for him. Looking down, he saw that her hand was still on his arm.

"Just…win this okay? Do it for yourself." She smiled up at him, suddenly the old Victoire he was used to. Seeing her like this, it was as if all the misery he'd felt, all the grief had never happened. "Or better yet…" she continued, leaning forward quickly and brushing her lips against his cheek, stunning him momentarily. "Do it for me."


	36. Heartbeat

The roar of the crowd could be heard through the walls of the change room, and as Teddy joined the other Gryffindors waiting for their cue to finish the game, he barely heard it at all. The team was sullen and silent, kicking at the dirt and avoiding each other's eyes, but Teddy's mind was far from it. _"Nothing has changed". _The words echoed through his mind, repeating themselves over and over until he questioned if he had even heard them at all. "_Win it for me"_. He could still feel the brush of her lips on his cheek and something inside him leapt with joy.

"Five minutes." someone announced to the team, causing them all to straighten their posture and show their nerves more clearly. "Let's just get this over with." someone muttered, catching Teddy's ear. Looking up, he took in the expressions of his team; miserable, nerve-ridden and exhausted. Victoire was right- he'd been playing like shit, and it had taken effect on the rest of his team. Suddenly he was struck with a thought.

"Hey, everyone gather round." he spoke up, catching the eye of his players, some of whom met his gaze curiously, others who avoided it at all costs. "Seriously, come here." he said, when no one moved. Sheepishly, the players dragged foot after foot forward until they were huddled in a sort of circle, giving Teddy at least a sliver of their attention.

"Everyone chin up." he said, elbowing the chaser beside him. "I've got an idea."

The next thing he knew, he was out on the field, broom in hand, staring hard into the sneering face of Max Northwick.

"Ready to end this, Lupin?" he asked, eyebrow quirked, mouth a grimace. Around them the crowd cheered once more and he knew it was just a matter of seconds before the whistle blew. When he'd spoken to his team just moments before, they'd been nervous.

"What if it doesn't work?" Noel Kilman, one of their beaters, asked him looking anxious.

"Then it doesn't work." Teddy shrugged. "But it's worth a try, don't you think?"

Slowly for some, boldly for others they all nodded eventually. "Right." Teddy said, clapping a few on the shoulders. "We've got a game to win."

"Oi, blue boy." Max shouted back, snapping Teddy's attention once more, although he couldn't quite gather how "blue boy" could be a reference to him. His hair was nowhere near blue...

"I said are you ready to get smothered, or would you like forfeit right now?"

The referee walked up to the center and put the whistle to her lips. "On my mark!"

"Go fuck yourself, Max." Teddy said as the whistle blew. The last thing he saw before pushing off top speed was Max's face, a flurry of anger and determination. Already the wind was rushing through his hair and he was regaining that feeling of confidence that always came to him when he was on a broom.

_Let the best man win. _

"There they go." Ginger said, sitting down beside Victoire back in the stands. She had returned from the changerooms just moments ago to the expectant looks of her friends. "I did the best I could." she said, taking a seat between Marcy and Ginger.

"Looks like your best was enough." Ginger announced now, flashing her friends a smile. "He looks normal to me."

She was right. Out on the field the Gryffindor team already looked more put together than usual. The chasers hurtled in perfect formation, never straying too far from a triangle pattern and it wasn't long before Teddy caught the Quaffle. The crowd cheered loud now, Pierce shrieking, his voice booming over the stadium and almost drowning out the others. "GO TEDDY GO!" Until moments later- "GRYFFINDOR SCORE!"

It was a beautiful first play, and it kept getting better from there on out. Slytherin scored the next point, but there were four Gryffindor goals after that! It seemed to be the continuous ratio for the whole second half. As it neared the end of the game and Gryffindor was a few points under, there was a moment where Max had the ball. He was charging toward the red and gold end, a look of pure fury in his face. Just as he was about to strike, when he had his arm reared back and it seemed all was lost- Noel Kilman hit a bludger that smashed through his hand, knocking the quaffle into the air wildly and leaving Max to shriek in pain as the bones shattered and his broom spun through the air wildly. The green stands gasped, the red ones cheered and Teddy caught the quaffle. In a moment of pure adrenaline, Victoire saw him glance in her direction and smile. Without thinking, she beamed back ridiculously and blew him a kiss. Letting out a laugh from the field, one that she could have sworn she heard in her heart, he scored the winning point and the crowd burst into an explosion of cheers. Meanwhile down below, Max was on the field, lying on his back and crying desperately for the nurse to come see him. Victoire could not have imagined a sweeter win, nor that she would be the one to encourage it.

"I can't believe it!" Clyde hooted from a few seats down, grabbing Marcy and spinning her wildly, laughter and cheers exploding around them. Victoire beamed, watching her friends and soaking up the moment. This was really it; Teddy's first win as captain, _captain_ of the Gryffindor quidditch team! As the final whistle blew, the group landed on the field, some of the teammates waving their brooms over their heads in victory, Noel Kilman actually jumping off his broom ten feet before he'd landed in order to be in the heart of the throng of red and gold. Students were already pouring out of the stands, the Slytherins headed grudgingly away from the field while the Gryffindors spilled in the other direction, rushing the field to swarm and cheer their heroes, teammates that none of them had had faith in moments before.

"What are we waiting for, let's get down there!" Sean cried, grabbing Ginger's hand in a flurry and pulling her after him. Ginger shot Toire a startled but thrilled look and ran after him to keep up, Jensen's scarf flapping wildly around her neck. Toire watched them go, a smile splitting her face and after a beat to see if Clyde and Marcy were coming, she took off after them.

Teddy watched them come, pouring onto the field like a sea of life. Bellows and cheers followed and the next thing he knew he was being swarmed. So many people were yelling his name, cheering for their win and he was laughing so hard he could barely hear it when Jensen yelled just beside him, "PARTY IN THE COMMON ROOM!", but one thing he did hear was the roar of the crowd, echoing the lions that they symbolised as several players were suddenly lifted up onto the shoulders of their housemates. Teddy only had a second to register Katy Thomas being carried off by a mob of fans and Noel Kilman kissing a Hufflepuff girl fiercely before he too was hoisted up, losing his balance for a moment before regaining it and letting out a whoop. Eyes on the castle, he leaned back onto the crowd and dozens of hands held him up with a cheer. In that moment, with Gryffindors below him and his name being sung on the wind, he looked up at the sky, white above them and nearly ready to snow if he wasn't mistaken; and felt like a king.

"Bugger it's too late. We've missed them." Clyde panted, keeling over to catch his breath once the group had landed on the field. Ginger and Sean were somewhere ahead of them having joined the crowds ascending their way back to the castle, minds far beyond their friends on the fields.

"That's okay, we'll find them in a few." Marcy beamed, turning to the others. "Did you hear Jensen? Party in the common room!" she whooped, grabbing Clyde's hand and dragging him along. "Come on Toire, this'll be a night to remember!" she beamed as the couple picked up speed once again to catch up to the mob.

"I'm right behind you!" Victoire yelled, smiling. She was about to take off after them, her feet already digging into the hard earth when she heard her name suddenly. A breath on the wind.

Turning for a moment, her eyes scanned the crowds dispersing from behind. As it thinned she saw a figure moving through it, parting the black robes to join her on the grass. At sight of the person, Toire felt herself relax, having felt an ominous feeling at the name before, moving so clearly through the yells and shouts between friends. Olivia Blunt moved to walk beside her, matching her now slowed walk, stride for stride.

"I didn't see you in the stands." Victoire said to the girl as a way of greeting. She never could quite put her finger on what the relationship she had with Olivia could be called. They had never been close other than that first year together at Hogwarts while they were getting started on their paths, but even since then whenever they talked, Victoire felt that it held some sort of importance. Olivia had this way of reading her like no one else really could aside from Teddy, and that was only when he was paying attention.

"I came late." the Slytherin smiled, tucking a strand of sable hair behind her ear. She had grown it out of the bob she'd worn it in for the first couple of her years and now it brushed her collarbones when she walked. "Not late enough to catch the heroic catch up, mind you."

"Yeah, it was certainly something." Victoire smiled, thinking back to the look Teddy had given her as he scored that last point. She didn't feel Olivia's eyes on her until she looked- a piercing green that could be harsh when they needed to be, but now were soft and curious. "You must be very proud." Olivia said simply, taking Victoire by surprise.

"It wasn't my win." Toire said, watching the girl she called her friend.

"You sure about that?" she replied, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Toire dropped her eyes and felt herself bite her lip, something she did when embarrassed on pensive. Right now it was a bit of both. "You always see more than the others, 'Liv." Toire said after a minute of silence, gazing back at the girl as they neared the castle. "Mmm." the girl said in reply, her smile full fledged now. Then, "You must be really looking forward to your next game then." she said, nudging Victoire. Toire watched her, confused for a moment as she wracked her brain to why that may be and then realization dawned on her. She went through the house cup games in her head, listing off the ones she'd memorized at the beginning of the year. Her eyes widened and she turned to Olivia just as the girl spoke what she was thinking.

"You finally get to face your boyfriend."

The next game of Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor.

Almost an hour later, the Gryffindor common room was rumbling. Victoire stood on the other side of the portrait of the Fat Lady, pausing momentarily before she entered. She had parted ways with Olivia back at the castle and told Marcy she'd meet her inside the party once she'd had time to get back and change, but now she waited. She could hear the noise from inside the room from the corridor, the bass already running beneath her feet and vibrating the picture frames. In her scene, the Fat Lady had stuffed a wad of cotton into her ears. As Victoire approached her she didn't even bother removing them, just waves Victoire through as she mouthed the password, _Hollyberry, _and watched the portrait swing forward to face the deafening jet of noise. Nearly wincing at the sound, but feeling her heartbeat accelerate instantly, she stepped through the hole and into the light. The common room was packed.

All around her she saw people, dressed to the nines in their best party-wear. Girls decked out in crop-tops and ripped jeans, boys in loose button downs and vintage Chuck Taylors; it was like she had stepped into one of those muggle teen movies her cousin Molly loved to watch. Among the cliche attire, the room was sweltering. With all the body heat formed by the dancing, people were sweating everywhere. She moved quickly through the room and stepped back against one of the walls to avoid a couple's desperate grinding only to find that the wall she was leaning up against was sweating almost more than she was. She took a step away, disgusted, and slammed directly into Jensen.

He turned toward her quickly, frown heavy and eyes watching the slosh of drink he'd just spilt, narrowly missing his sleeve. "Hey, watch it- Oh, sorry Toire." he said, catching sight of her. "Didn't see you there."

"No, it was my bad." she said, shying away a moment and then kicking herself for it. This was _Jensen_ goddamnit, she told herself quickly. But there was still a part of her, a corner she'd tucked far away that refused to smooth out, that still made her feel awkward and clumsy whenever she was around him alone. Not that this really counted as alone, but it seemed like no one had noticed her arrival yet besides him and the couple now tonguing each other in the corner. Their "incident" that had taken place the previous year had just passed it's yearly mark and considering she hadn't kissed any boys since the summer she was feeling a little awkward thinking about it now, here, while Jensen's eyes wandered down her body for a quick moment, his mind surely going through the same thoughts.

"Who's that for?" she asked hastily, pointing at the other drink he was carrying to change the subject. He glanced down at it as if he'd forgotten it was even there before looking back up to her. "You, if you want it." She took it without a second thought and chugged, the liquid a glistening brown, burning a bit at the back of her throat as the familiar taste of alcohol flooded her mouth. "I thought you'd given up drinking." Jensen said, quirking an eyebrow as she emptied her cup.

"We're celebrating." she said bluntly, handing the cup back to him. "Well, I'll keep my distance just to be sure." he smirked, taking his leave.

"Cocky bastard!" she called after him, feeling herself warm to the lightened tone he took to their past fumble. "What can I say?" he yelled back over the music as he walked away. "I'm irresistable!" Then, as if to prove his point, he grabbed a girl from out of the crowd wrapped an arm around her waist, much to her delight. Toire rolled her eyes and turned, already feeling the drink coursing through her as she scanned the raging crowd for a familiar spark of teal hair. After a moment of getting distracted by a catchy baseline in the new _Weird Sister's _single blasting from some invisible source, she caught sight of Teddy, stuck in the middle and surrounded by girls all doing their ultimate best to catch his attention. She felt her heart soften when she noticed he was busy shouting something in Clyde's ear who was right beside him other than pay any notice to the sirens. Taking a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders and entered the crowd.

To say Teddy hadn't noticed the increasing lack of girls around him would have been an understatement. Not that he had ever been lacking in that department, but it seemed like this night in particular they seemed to be everywhere. Whenever he moved, one of them brushed up against him, grinding a hip or a leg against him, often in places he wouldn't have expected. He couldn't help but think at one point that any other guy would have been thrilled to have been thronged as he was that night, but even since he'd come downstairs from his dorm after having changed into something more relaxed, his eyes had been open for one girl in particular. It wasn't until Jensen had handed him a drink, and then Clyde a couple more that he'd finally loosened up. Now he moved with the music, appreciating the friends around him and feeling generally in a very happy place. He felt warm. He felt successful. He felt fan-flipping-tastic. "I feel fan-flipping-tastic." he yelled, laying a hand on Clyde's shoulder to steady himself as yet another girl rubbed past him, batting her lashes.

"Merlin Teddy, get a grip!" Clyde yelled back, laughing as his friend swayed slightly. "Maybe you should lay off the stronger ones for a while." Suddenly his friend's eyes lit up. "Oi, have a look will you! There's your girl!"

Those words were like a splash of cold water for Teddy, as he suddenly whipped his head up, looking all around until it was too late and Victoire was standing at his shoulder.

"Hey!" she yelled over the music, casting an eye around momentarily at the girls now shooting her a flurry of dirty looks. Clyde replied cheerily and engaged her in a joke while Teddy took a second to get his bearings all while taking her in. She'd dressed a lot simpler than the other girls at the party. Instead of bare midriffs and strappy sandals, she was wearing a simple green sundress, one he wouldn't have expected her to have out during the winter. It hung off her waist loosely, drifting with the music and folding with the heat, but on top it was low enough to show collarbone and more than enough chest. He glanced around quickly to check if anyone was looking and sure enough there were more than a few guys trying to catch her eye as they grinded with the other girls in the room.

"I think I see Marcy!" Clyde said, a lot louder than before in order to catch Teddy's attention. It worked, and he hastily dropped his eyes back to Victoire who waved at Clyde as he pushed his way between the sweaty guests and back to his girlfriend. They were alone again, in a completely non-literal way. Unexpectedly, Teddy felt a sudden surge of panic shoot through him. She was so _close,_ and with all the haze he was feeling in his head he suddenly was blanking on any idea of what he should do.

She watched Clyde go for a moment before turning back to Teddy, feeling instantly startled at the look he was giving her. Teal hair rumpled, looking a bit dazed and confused she couldn't help but smile. He was watching her so intently and when he noticed she saw his face redden slightly. It thrilled her, knowing she could make him feel that way and once again, memories of him on the field, sweat on his brow and his muscles working to their full extent, gave her a boost of energy. She let herself be pushed closer to him, moving with the wave of the crowd. Slowly and almost seductively, feeling as though the drink had loosened her up considerably, she took his hand in hers. He dropped his gaze to it and then back at her, his frown raising. She leaned in close so that her lips were level with his ear, speaking into it so he wouldn't have to strain to hear her. "Dance with me."

She didn't have to ask him twice.

Immediately and with sudden confidence she felt his arms slide around her waist, breaking the space between them as her navel pressed against him, the thin cotton of her dress one of the only layers separating them. She raised her eyes to his and stretched up her arms, twining them round his neck and pulling herself closer. The music thrummed through the floor, up her legs and reverberated against her chest, flowing back and forth, back and forth into his. She smiled at the beat, sudden drums pounding out rhythm and he returned the look, letting loose his grip for a moment. She raised an eyebrow in question but the next thing she knew, he was spinning her out and she was gasping in shock, the move quick and unexpected. Then she was back against him, eyes wide and heart thrumming and he moved them across the floor, bodies pressing them closer still.

"_Teddy_." she managed to gasp once she'd caught her breath, leaning into him. He laughed. "Oh come on, you love it." There was a sudden change in the song as she recognized the opening bars of a slower one she had heard on a muggle radio over the summer. Couples met up and started joining the dancefloor. She leaned her head against his chest, lowering her hands so they looped around his hips. "Shut up." she mumbled, and he smiled smugly.

She concentrated on lowering the pace of her heart.

The song played on and they swayed in silence, neither one of them wanting to break the feeling for a moment. Victoire found herself closing her eyes, her face still pressed against his chest, hearing the music and the far off beat of his heart somewhere deeper.

"Victoire."

"Mmm?"

He said something softly, so soft that she couldn't quite hear it above the music. Raising her head so her chin rested against him now, so close he could kiss her, she watched him. His eye's weren't on her at first, it was almost as if he were avoiding hers. But then with a shudder, they were there, and she could have sworn she felt herself start. There was something about the way he was watching her, like he had just turned out ever edge of his soul for her to see. She couldn't believe the look he gave, how open he was but instead of saying something meaningful like she would have if she'd had time to think, instead she asked him to repeat himself.

Just like that, in an instant, the look was gone. Snapped, so suddenly that it startled her even more than when it appeared. She could physically see it leave, the doors close behind his eyes as he watched her, and she felt like she had said something terribly wrong. He looked almost to be sweating more now, and she loosened her grip on him, placing a hand on his chest instead to steady the two of them. But he wasn't looking so good.

"Teddy, are you alright?"

He didn't have time to reply. In an instant, he pulled away, forcing her to drop her hands and watch him go as he shoved his way out of the throng, moving those who didn't part for him by force.

"What the hell just happened?" came a voice at her elbow. Whirling she turned to see Marcy, as sweaty and frazzled as the others, but having clearly been taking in the "Tedtoire" show with a healthy fondness. As if to answer her question, a roar of a laugh broke out behind them. Clyde approached then, swinging an arm over both their shoulders.

"I knew he shouldn't have had that third firewhisky." he snorted, realization breaking out in Toire's mind. "Jensen always makes them too strong."

Now Victoire recognized the direction Teddy had been fleeing to. Her eyes following the long line of girls that trailed out of the area, she watched as one helped the other stagger through the door, hair already being pulled back. The toilets.

"Romantic." Toire muttered, more to herself than anyone else, but Marcy finished in with the typical snort of "_Men_."


	37. Wake Up Call

"I still can't believe you left." Jensen snorted the next day as the boys trudged across the grounds. They were headed to class- Sean to Herbology, Teddy and Jensen to potions. Clyde had decided to shrug off, claiming he was taking a "personal day", which really meant he was meeting Marcy to hook up somewhere new.

The previous night's party had been a roaring success; meaning everyone was suffering. That morning at breakfast practically half of the Gryffindor table had been nursing hangovers, clutching their waters and pushing away bacon and eggs like they were flobberworm larvae. "What do you mean you can't believe it?! It was your bloody fault after all!" Teddy growled, the wind biting at his face as he surged forward, scarf flapping in the wind. It didn't help that it still smelled like Victoire. The scent brought back a flood of memories from the night prior, surrounding him as it had when they danced together, her arms around his waist, breasts pressed to his chest... "What was I supposed to do anyway? Heave all over her?" he snapped.

"Whoa now golden boy, don't take this out on me." Jensen smirked, unable to hold back his amusement. "It's not my fault you can't hold your liquor."

"I can hold my liquor just fine, _you're _the one who makes them stronger than Hagrid's for Merlin's sake..." They crossed over one of the hills, nearing the great oak doors. Sean, who had remained silent for most of the walk, took this moment to speak up before he was meant to depart.

"Look, I don't see what the big deal is." he said, adjusting his bag laden down by textbooks. "You danced with her, it was brilliant, she looked proper fit and you told her you love her. Simple as that."

"Not in ol' Teddy's eyes, Sean my mate." Jensen winked just as Teddy spoke up, "You think she's fit?"

"Of course I do, the whole bloody school does Teddy." Sean said, rolling his eyes as Teddy's hair darkened half a shade. "That's the real trouble here. If you don't act soon some other bloke's gonna come in and try something. I know it's not a problem and all, considering the two of you are star-crossed lovers or some shit-"

"Sod off."

"-but I'm just saying, the clock's ticking. McGonagall doesn't give those time turners out to just anyone you know."

"Get to class, ya filthy bugger." Jensen laughed, shoving Sean toward the greenhouses as the boy saluted and took off across the grounds while the remaining two entered the school.

The warmth from the building hit Teddy like a wall and he shivered in gratitude. Students packed the corridors, those clad in red and gold still stumbling along while the others laughed and poked fun. They caught a moving staircase to lead up to the right floor when Jensen opened his mouth to speak.

"McCalroy's got a point you know." he said, referring to Sean."You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be. She told you to forget about what she said over Christmas, didn't she?"

Teddy bristled, still miffed from last night's outcome. "Yeah, but you know what that could've meant." He glanced at Jensen, who was staring at him.

"That she wants you to forget about what she said over Christmas?" the brunette said, deadbeat. Teddy looked away, loosening his scarf so it hung around his shoulders. The top button of the shirt under his robe was undone and as he looked around he glanced a few girls on the staircase above theirs glancing down at him. They burst into a fit of giggles when he looked their way and he ran a hand through his hair, exhausted. "Look, I was playing like shit yesterday. You saw the first half of the game. I was pissed off and tired and sick..."

"All true."

"...but then Victoire comes in and she... she tells me these things and she kisses me on the cheek and then she's gone, just like she always is." he said, the last part coming out in a hurry. "So what if she just said those things to make me play better?" he said, exasperated. "I mean, how am I supposed to act around her if I'm not sure? It's like she's there, and she's always so present. Like everything is dim around her, like she's this _light _that I can't take my eyes off of... and then she's gone. And the world is flat again."

Jensen was really watching him now, not a trace of sarcasm in his eyes, leaning against the rail of the stair. His green eyes searched him, looking for a trace of doubt, of any sign that might prove other feelings until he spoke. "You really do love her, don't you." It wasn't a question, but Teddy answered all the same.

"More than anything."

Victoire was just leaving Transfiguration when heard her voice being called from behind. Turning in the hall and avoiding several stumbling Gryffindors, she caught sight of a staggering Marcy, pushing past a hoard of third-years in order to catch up. "Hey!" Marcy said, giggling as she fell into stride beside her friend. "Hi there happy." Victoire smiled, bemused. "You're in a good mood." Toire couldn't say she felt the same. That morning had been rough; she'd fallen asleep in her dress from the night before and when she'd woken up her eyes were rimmed in makeup that had smeared across her face, her head throbbing to a silent beat. Toire's eyes scanned her friend until they were drawn suddenly to a dark red blemish on her neck. "_Marcy!_" she exclaimed, grabbing the girl by the shoulders and trying to further inspect the mark.

"Stop, stop!" Marcy laughed, pushing her friend away but looping arms. "Clyde's getting a little ahead of himself..." Toire muttered while Marcy let out a snort. "You should see the rest of me." she snickered as Toire whacked her on the arm. "Come on, let's go get something to eat."

Once in the Great Hall the girls began tucking in. "So." Marcy said, glancing over at her friend between mouthfuls of sandwich. "How're you holding up?"

Victoire swallowed a large gulp of soup at the mention of her state, burning her tongue and trying to ignore the pain as her eyes watered and she clamped her lips together. "With what?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Don't "with what" me, Victoire Weasley." Marcy scolded. "I saw your face when Teddy ran off last night, and I know you left shortly after to get back to the room. What happened?"

Victoire took a gulp of water to cool her burning mouth and swallowed, avoiding eye contact. What had happened? At one moment everything had seemed fine- they were dancing, the music was great, she felt happy, Teddy looked _gorgeous..._ and then BAM. He'd said something, she hadn't heard it, and he was gone. She knew now it hadn't been anything personal and that he'd just had one too many, but she couldn't help but wonder what it was he's said. It could have just as well been something as simple as "I'm gonna hurl", but there was a small part of her that felt like it had been something more. The way he'd said it, so softly like if it were any louder it might break. Her memory flashed back to when they'd been in the prefect baths together earlier that year, and how she'd danced around him in the water. She was so confident back then, and he'd been so beautiful. She flushed just thinking about it, but it was true. The way he'd bitten his lip when he asked her to flirt with him, how his boxers hung low on his hips in the water... If she could go back now, she knew she would have done more than just toy with him.

"I guess he just got ill." was all she could manage out. Marcy sighed and scooted toward her friend on the bench, leaning her head on her shoulder while Victoire placed hers on top to connect the space.

"My lovesick Ravenclaw." Marcy snickered.

"My hickied Gryffindor." Victoire shot back, earning her a laugh and an elbow in the ribs.

"Well isn't this cute."

The voice was familiar, and Victoire lifted her head to look, knowing who it would be before she made contact with those sage green eyes.

"Hey Jensen." Marcy said, scooting back down again. "Have a seat."

"I would, but I'm actually here for something else." he smiled, putting on the air of an important businessman. Around him students continued their daily routine, taking no notice of the handsome exchange. "Miss Weasley, may I request the honor of speaking with you in private?"

Victoire raised an eyebrow. There was nothing in the world she could imagine talking about with Jensen that Marcy wouldn't be allowed to hear. Jensen was looking down at her, hair pushed back, arm outstretched in a silent offer. Never the less, she saw no reason to decline. "You may, good sir." she said, imitating his voice and sliding her legs over the bench so she could stand and loop her arm with his. "Smashing. We shan't be long, Marcy dear. Only going for a quick promenade." He guided her to go but looked back momentarily just as Marcy was waving goodbye. "Oh, and you might want to put something on that mark." he said, over exaggerating pointing to her neck so that several other people at their table looked over. "Can't imagine how you must have gotten it." he grinned as she flushed red, flipping him off as the pair of them headed out into the hall.

"So what's this about?" Victoire asked, loosening her grip on his arm as they exited earshot. Together they walked along a busy corridor, earning curious looks from several students, eventually making Victoire decide to drop her arm all together. "You here to forfeit our upcoming match?" she smiled. The Gryffindor-Ravenclaw quidditch match had been set for almost a month away, yet she couldn't help feeling that if it were to come out like she wanted, there was going to have to be a lot more practicing on her part.

"Actually, it's about Teddy." Jensen said, so casually that Toire didn't quite pick up on it at first. When she did, she felt herself tense. Apparently it wasn't too discreet either because Jensen immediately raised his hands in defence. "Now now, you'll hear no chastating from me." he smirked. "I just thought I'd bring up something with you. A concern of his."

She felt her interest spike and leaned in closer to better hear him over the noise of the bustling crowd. "What is it?"

"Well," he said, stopping his pace and leaning in for her to better hear. "don't tell anyone, but the thing is, Toire... he's uneasy."

She frowned, the lines creasing her brow in a way that made Jensen smile. But this time it wasn't funny to her. "Uneasy how?"

"He doesn't believe you love him."

She felt herself flinch, however regretfully, and took half a step back while Jensen's smile widened. "I don't know what you mean." she said, the words coming out stiff as a blush crept onto her cheeks. Jensen quirked an eyebrow and crossed his arms skeptically.

"Don't be proud, Toire. Everyone knows what's going on. It's time for you to stop leading him on and do something."

It might have been because she'd had a rubbish night's sleep, or maybe it was the way he said it- but Jensen's words had a sudden effect on her that she felt herself slowly becoming infuriated. "Well _everyone _can just keep their nose out of my bloody business." she snapped, words coming out sharper than intended. For a moment he looked startled, and moved as if he were going to apologize, but instead different words came out.

"Just tell him how you feel, Victoire. He's under the impression you've been telling him lies to boost his confidence. Whatever the truth is, at least give it to him straight so he quits torturing himself."

"You know damn well what the truth is." she said loudly, earning her a sudden array of looks from passers by. Blushing, she lowered her voice and closed the gap some to make herself better heard. "You know what it is, and so should he." she said, the same aggression in her softer tone.

"Well he doesn't, and frankly you haven't made it very clear." Jensen said, returning the mood.

"Haven't made it very-? What the hell do you mean, _not very clear? _I told him to forget that I love him as a brother! How much clearer can it get?!"

"Clearer than the mud you've given him." Jensen said, ruffled by her anger.

"What happened a second ago when you said you weren't going to chastise me?"

"I'm not _chastising _you, I'm telling you what you need to hear and the fact that you're unwilling to face it just shows that maybe you're not as invested in this as you thought you were." She felt a bubble of hot rage in her chest at the words and in a moment it was her turn to snap.

"What the _hell _do you know about me?!" she hissed. "Aside that it's time for you to keep your nose in your own bloody business." Her face was flushed now, mouth tight with anger. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears and noted subconsciously the same traits on Jensen.

"You made this my business."

"Since _when_?" she scoffed skeptically, giving him her best look of sarcasm.

"Since you snogged me in the hall and broke his ruddy heart, that's when!"

It felt as though he had slapped her, his words breaking through so sharply. That had been over a year ago, and she had worn things had been settled between them. Apparently though, Jensen wasn't one to let things go so easily.

"I wasn't myself that night." she muttered after finally bringing herself to speak again. Jensen dropped his gaze for the first time in their conversation, and she felt like a weight had been lifted, but instead of floating upward, she was suddenly sinking down.

"Yeah, I know." he said, straightening up in one swift move, pulling himself together so fast she swore she hadn't seen the crack- that broken, long forgotten look that had stayed with him so fleetingly. She felt drained, like fighting with him had been matched with bleeding herself out, it was so painful. He still wasn't looking at her, and with a heavy strength she wasn't sure she had, she willed herself to speak.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked him, finally seeing him meet her eyes. She imagined how tired she must look to him, because the expression on his face softened and he let some of the tension in his joints release. "Tell me." she said, still watching him, noting the changes.

"Just bring it back, Victoire." he said finally, and she was surprised to hear that he sounded as tired as she felt. "Take everything you have with him, and take it back to the start. Before all this..." he gestured vaguely, "...began. He's here for you. Find a way to feel light around him again." he smiled softly and she returned the expression. "Make it a game." he added, as though considering it a footnote.

Victoire opened her mouth to speak, but was bumped into from behind, distracting her. There was a sudden increase in the flow of people in the hall, telling them that it was time to get to class. The noise soon rose to a steady chatter, muting out much chance of the two of them finishing their conversation. "I have to go." Jensen called, still facing her as he struggled to raise his voice. "Potions."

She nodded and he turned to go, but before he could take a few steps, she called out after him. "Jensen!"

He turned, dark hair pushed back from his brow, eyes flashing in the light from the torches.

"Thanks." she said softly, too soft for him to hear but enough that he could read her lips.

"Teddy wasn't the only one who got hurt that night." he said suddenly, voice carrying across the space between them, words meant only for her. A sudden flash of memory accompanied it, one of lips pressed hastily to hers, a lust so guilty that she'd tried to drown it out later.

"I'm sorry." she called back. She truly was. He stayed a minute longer, the two of them staring studying each other. They'd spent so much time together since that night, and yet never of them had really been alone. There had always been someone there to distract her, to keep her from focusing on what she had so plainly blocked out of her memory as a blemish of her loyalty, a cigarette burn on her resume of affection for a teal haired boy.

His eyes strayed for a moment before returning to her, and when they connected, she saw something different there. Something she didn't recognize from before.

"I forgive you." he said, before turning into the crowd.

The Gryffindor table was nearly full at dinner as students chattered happily and shoveled everything from roasted lamb to mashed potatoes into their mouths. Victoire and Ginger had joined their friends as usual, Ginger settling herself in beside Marcy, leaving Toire the empty spot beside Teddy. Jensen was there as well, and judging by the easy expression on his face as Victoire had sat down, all grudges had been forgotten earlier in the day. The only people missing were Sean and Clyde.

"I haven't seen him since this afternoon." Marcy shrugged when GInger inquired, turning back to her sprouts.

"Probably off getting condoms." Victoire muttered as Teddy choked on his pumpkin juice beside her. She let out a laugh and leaned into him on instinct. It wasn't until she noticed Jensen watching them across the table that she remembered the gist of his earlier point.

_He's under the impression you've been telling him lies..._

She glanced up at Teddy who seemed to be recovering from his glottal attack, and wondered if it was true- this whole time since Christmas, he'd thought she'd been lying to him. Jensen was right, she needed to bring things back to normal.

_Make it a game._

The funny thing was- she had done that once. Earlier in the year, in the prefects bathroom they had agreed on a competition of sorts, to see who was the better flirter. But that seemed like so long ago, and besides, she couldn't even think of how to bring the topic back to conversation. They hadn't been alone together in ages and that would be the only time she could think of to bring it up. Even so, how would she do it...

Before she could even begin to consider, there was a sudden crash from the back of the great hall. Startled, several heads whipped in the direction of the noise to see the oak doors flung open while none other than Sean and Clyde made their way into the room, trying and failing to be as inconspicuous as possible, all while avoiding the patronizing looks coming from the back table. As the rest of the crowd died down at the arrival, the two boys immediately picked up the pace and nearly sprinted over to the Gryffindor seats.

"Guys!" Sean said, arriving first and resting a hand on Ginger's shoulder while he keeled over to catch his breath. "Merlin's bol-" he panted, gasping for air just as Clyde swooped down to interrupt. "You're not gonna believe this," he said, his voice a loud whisper and suddenly all conversation in the group stopped as everyone leaned forward. "Are you okay?" Ginger murmured, still eyeing Sean as Clyde broke the suspense. "We need your help. Or, Teddy's help more like." he said, slapping his friend on the back.

"What the bloody hell for?" Teddy said, still startled at the unexpected form of arrival. Clyde leaned down closer, much to everyone's anticipation before he whispered; "Party in the common room tonight."

Jensen perked up immediately. "Really?"

"Yeah, you know that sixth year, Connor Crowley?" Clyde grinned, slipping into a seat to get more comfortable. "Well it's his birthday and his mates said we could turn it into a full out ball if we can get the required material." At the mention of this last object he shot a look at Teddy, raising his eyebrows. "What do you say?"

"No. Absolutely not." Teddy said, but his face was giving him away. Already Victoire could see the spark in his eye, a clue of the planning going on backstage. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to break into the Hog's Head nowadays?" There was half a cave in our fourth year, if you don't remember." he protested, recollection of sanity beginning to dawn on him as he did consider the reality of the situation. Suddenly an idea popped into Toire's head.

"I'll go with you." she said, nudging him and shooting Clyde a smile. "If _I _recall correctly, the cave in didn't take out more than half the tunnel. Getting through's a piece of cake, and we still have the cloak."

"Brilliant!" Clyde exclaimed, slapping a hand on the table in emphasis. "See Teddy, she's got more balls than you."

"You sure about this?" Teddy asked, quirking an eyebrow at the girl beside him, already liking the glint in her eye. "Yeah, of course." she smiled. "Just you and me, like old times. It'll be fun." Teddy tried his best to hide his pleasure at the words, but failed miserably as the grin overtook his face, turning into someone who resembled a kid on Christmas morning. "Okay, then here's the plan." he said, moving deeper into the circle once it was settled. "Toire, you go up and get changed into something more sensible for cave crawling. I'll grab the cloak and the map while I'm at it. The rest of you tell that Crowley kid to get his mates ready. We want everyone to know, but none of it to get around too far. Clean up the common room, decorate or something. Start the festivities as soon as you can. Toire and I'll try to be back in a few hours, hoping we don't run into trouble. Deal?"

"Deal." Clyde grinned along with the rest of them. "Merlin, I haven't been this excited since New Years."

"What happened New Years?" Sean asked, a look of confusion crossing his face.

"Never you mind." Marcy snapped, smacking Clyde on the back of the head while he gave her a wink.

"Toire, meet me at the Room of Requirement when you're ready." Teddy beamed, downing the rest of his pumpkin juice as the group hastily finished their meals, Clyde stealing the rest of Marcy's pork chop while Ginger offered Sean a bite off her plate.

"It's gonna be an interesting night."

**I am ALIVE!**

**Hello my darling, loyal beautiful **_**patient **_**readers. Thanks for bearing with me this long. I totally suck and for that, I apologize. I'm also aware that this chapter is a little short, but I decided that instead of hoarding it and lengthening it another day, I'd release it so at least you have something. This fic was supposed to be finished ages ago chapter wise, but I have this little problem where I keep adding things, such as details, extra plot routes, more character development, etc. It's becoming a bit of an issue. Never the less, I know I say this every time but I will make an effort to update more often, especially with spring break a few weeks away. Until then, I thank you for your continued support. I really do love you guys, you brighten up my day. **

**xx**

**Cal**


	38. Dark Places

The crowds from after dinner were still in the halls as student made their way back to their common rooms, well stuffed and ready for bed. But for the Gryffindor students, the fun was just starting and word was spreading fast. Moving like a hum of energy, whispers passed from student to student through the corridors, each face lighting up with the thought of the party to come- and if they'd be invited. Through the throng there was one face in particular that was more determined than the others to get into that party- or to let that party happen. Victoire Weasley pushed through the crowds, her mind set on a certain little known room located on the seventh floor, where if she played her cards right, more than one event would run smoothly for that night. Reaching the moving staircases, she took the steps two at a time, careful to avoid the trick step that had trapped Ginger for nearly two hours on their third day of school, and bounded up to the necessary floor. There were less students up here and she was grateful for the space. Already her mind was racing of what she'd say to Teddy to ease the obvious tension that had been growing between them, as well as come up with a way that they could remain unseen and hopefully uncaught from their not so legal plans of the night.

The hall of hexes was deserted and she hurried over to the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach troll how to dance. Giving it a grimace, she turned to the wall. _Right, _she thought. _Just think of what you need, and pass the wall three times. Easy. _She paused.

_Teddy. _

The thought came faster than she had expected and although in other circumstances she would have tried to stifle it, now she let it run free. Teddy, she needed Teddy, of course. Without a second thought she paced the hall, her mind wandering to moments they'd shared together- the broom ride, christmas presents, quiddich matches- and suddenly a door appeared in the wall. "Huh." she breathed, smiling at her feat and without giving thought to what may be inside, she turned the latch and stormed in.

Teddy was pacing. He'd rushed back to the common room before word has even spread, grabbing the cloak, the map and a jacket, before disappearing off to the seventh floor. Now in the room of requirement he'd been hit with the task of waiting for Toire. Mind you he hadn't had to wait long.

There was a crash from behind and he whirled to see the doors being flung open and Toire barging into the room, a blazing look in her eye. She'd changed into dark jeans, black sneakers and a black hoodie. She looked more like she was ready to rob a casino than a wizard pub.

"You know the Hog's Head isn't Gringotts, right?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow and letting out a smile. He watched her cheeks turn pink and felt something in his gut twist at the sight. "I'm preparing for the worst." she said sarcastically, whacking him with her arm as she approached. "You could have been a bit more dressed up."

Looking down, he saw he was wearing the same thing he had been at dinner, jeans, a baseball shirt and sneakers. The jacket was hung over his arm loosely, the cloak over his shoulder giving the illusion that his arm was disconnected from the rest of him. "Metamorphmagus, remember?" he smirked. Toire watched with a sour expression as he darkened his hair, grew out his nose and widened his mouth to her detest.

"Ugh, not necessary." she said, trying to hide a smile and he grinned and changed back. She let her eyes drift to the now present portrait on the wall- that of Ariana Dumblrdor. She smiled serenely back at them and inclined her head in welcome.

"Clyde's probably already gotten things underway." Teddy noted, glancing at the portrait. "So we'd better get started. You ready?"

Toire was already halfway to the painting. "You'd better keep up." she shot back, smiling, just as the portrait flew open to reveal the passage. "Or I might take the glory all for myself."

He watched her climb in, ignoring modesty and letting his eyes follow her frame as she entered.

"Oh, I'm ready." he smirked to himself, following her lead.

The passage was dark when they entered, but the first thing that had really hit Victoire was the cold. She shivered in her sweater as her hands felt round for the walls, ignoring the darkness as she stumbled forwards. "Careful." came Teddy's voice from behind her, and then the cave was lit, Teddy's wordless spell doing the trick. She looked behind to see him watching her, his wand out. He winked and smiled and she rolled her eyes, pulling out her wand and doing the same. The two of them made their way down the narrow passage, noting it's quick drops in places and the rocky sledges perfect for tripping up visitors. "Where did you say the cave in was again?" Victoire asked, looking back at Teddy who was watching his footing on a particularly sketchy bit of flooring. "Should be about ten minutes away." he said, making a smooth landing as he skipped over the loose stone. They walked on in silence for longer, the emptiness of the passageway doing nothing to stifle the awkwardness that was steadily growing between them. Just when Victoire was about to open her mouth to say god know's what- there was a clatter from behind.

The two of them froze. The noise had come from further up the tunnel, echoing eerily down the cavern in a way that made it sound much closer than it - hopefully - was.

"Please tell me that was just my imagination." Victoire whispered.

"It's probably just a rock falling lose..." Teddy muttered, but his tone sounded doubtful. Their eyes met and they knew they were thinking the same thing.

"There's no way anyone could have followed us, is there?" Toire asked nervously. Teddy held her stare. "Maybe we should just hurry."

"Good idea."

With newfound purpose and hammering hearts, they surged forward. The tunnel became smooth towards the center and as they maneuvered their way over step and stone, Victoire's mind kept flitting back to the past. Not between her and Teddy- although that was often not far from her mind- but the real past. The history. Her uncles had told her all the stories of their adventures during the Dark War, and if she recalled, it was this very tunnel that Professor Longbottom had led them down, the same night Lord Voldemort was defeated.

The same night Teddy's parents had died.

Glancing back to see him watching his feet, Victoire wondered if he was thinking the same thing. This wasn't Teddy's first time in the tunnel by all means, but still- did it bother him, thinking that the connection to everything- his father especially- was so strong? Or had he grown used to it. Victoire had never been lonely. If you're a Weasley it's practically impossible. But Teddy... where had he been that night, she wondered, the night of the battle, a year before her birth. It occurred to her she'd never asked him.

"You're oftly quiet." he spoke from behind her and she started at the echo of his voice, letting it carry down the passage before she spoke.

"I was just thinking of... of our parents." she said. It wasn't all false. Bill and Fleur were never far from her thoughts either.

"What about them?" he asked, and she felt him draw nearer as they walked, felt the warmth of his skin and she shivered. "How they acted, during the Dark War. The fear they had to live with, how they coped. Knowing their world could come to an end at any second."

Immediately after staying this she bit her tongue. _Stupid, _she thought. _Of course, his parent's worlds did end._ She continued walking awkwardly, hoping the comment would pass unnoticed. But he surprised her.

"I think they were okay." he said, his tone neutral. She turned to look at him, eyes winking in the light from their wands, hair tousled from the long descent. Deep beneath the earth, where most people would be at the height of unease, Teddy looked calm. "I mean," he contined, "they were trained for it, right? So it wasn't like they didn't know what was coming. They knew how to defend themselves."

"But it wasn't enough." She didn't hold back now. If he was being this confessional, she was going to ask. They kept on their trek and Teddy eyed her at the question, his expression unreadable. She wondered for a moment if he was angry, but when he spoke he sounded tired.

"I said they knew how to defend themselves, not that it always worked." He bit his lip just as Victoire pursed hers to ask a question.

"Do you miss them?" The tunnel was wide enough now that they could just walk side by side, their shoulders beginning the brush. She could feel heat radiating from his body and wished that maybe if the circumstances weren't so tight, he would look at her.

"Sometimes." he said, his tone neutral like before. "But then, I don't really know them do I?"

The comment took her off guard. She supposed she had been expecting him to confess some form of attachment, but then again Teddy was always one for surprises.

"They died when I was a baby," he continued, words coming faster now. "and I've got photos and stuff, and that helps. But how much can you learn about a person from photographs anyway? Then I have stories, and people have been great with those. So I get the jist of the person, you know? But when it comes down to it... I know them just about as well as anyone. As well as you, probably. You can only miss someone so much through pictures. If anything, I miss what I could have had with them."

He settled into silence long enough for Victoire to process the confession. Everything made since, and once she'd heard it... it made him seem stronger. This was the kind of person he was. Teddy didn't dwell on the past. He dealt with it, and continued on. The quiet wasn't awkward anymore between them. As they descended further still, Victoire held out her wand to send the light ahead and as she did, almost without thinking, reached down to take his hand. Her fingers slid into his perfectly, and she squeezed softly. She thought she imagined hearing his breathing slow for a moment, but he return squeeze reassured her things were going to be alright. Glancing down at their hands between them, there was really no way of denying things any longer. Things were alright. Everything was going to be alright.

The minutes passed and they continued down the passageway, wands out to extend the light, when a dark shadow appeared in the distance. "That'll be it..." Teddy said, loosening his grip on her hand and stepping forward to lead the way. Sure enough, they had reached the cave in. Victoire made a noise of distaste as she noted the size of it- jagged rocks had taken up nearly half the tunnel, leaving a thin gap for a person not much bigger than herself to be able to fit through.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay with this?" she asked, eyeing the hole. Teddy's shoulders were broad and he was over six feet- bigger than the space seemed to accommodate. "What, you think I'm too fat?" he asked, shooting her a grin and resting his hand on his flat stomach. She felt herself blush scarlet. "No, I think you're too _big_." His grin widened and upon realization the fire in her cheeks spread. "Okay, fine, just go!" she mumbled, covering her face with her hand to obstruct the embarrassment. He let out a laugh while lining himself up with the space, before shimming to the side, approaching the hole. He put on a terrible imitation of her voice; "Teddy, you've got, like, a _six pack_." he said, sounding way too nasally for her taste but it did the trick, making her want to punch her past self in the face.

"I was flirting!' she called to him even though he'd disappeared from view through the hole. "That was me _flirting_! And it was like a year ago anyway..."

"A few months!" he called back faintly. She let out of huff of air before approaching the hole.

"Are you through?" she called.

"Just about!" came his voice from farther in than she'd expected. How long did this gap go? Then, suddenly: "Uh... Victoire?"

Her heart stuttered. "Yeah?"

"We've got a bit of a problem." She could feel her nerves rising.

"It better not be what I think it is." she called back, pursing her lips.

Several seconds passed of silence. "Well?" she called, impatient.

"I'm stuck."

She let out a noise of imminent frustration, rolling her eyes although she couldn't see it. "I told you you were too big." she muttered. His laugh echoed down the passageway.

"Ok, I'm coming in. I'll see if I can push you out..." she called. "... or something..."

Angling herself so she was flush to the wall, she extended a leg to the side and began to shuffle into the hole. Immediately she was hit with a rush of claustrophobia. It was tight almost instantly, the rocks pressing her back to the wall so she could feel every jagged edge through her sweater. No wonder Teddy had gotten stuck- she could barely move through the thing. The gap continued on further than she'd expected but she soon saw Teddy's silhouetted up ahead, his light casting shadows through the space, making everything more eerie than usual. As she watched him squirming in the wand light she couldn't help but feel a bubble of laughter rising, and she had to stifle her giggles as she shuffled forward.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked, angling his head so he could just make her out. She was beside him now, leaning against him, her body trembling with the contained sniggers.

"Sorry, this is just... it's so ridiculous." she laughed, nudging him. "Okay, okay, I'm good. Hold still." She rummaged through her mind for a matter of spells that could get the two of them out, and when the right one popped in, she cast it without thinking. Suddenly there was a whoosh as the two of them were sent surging forward, Teddy crying out in surprise as he toppled to the floor, Victoire's tone mimicking his as she landed on him.

"Alright... ow." He muttered from the ground, leaning up on one elbow. Toire was half on top of him, her jeans torn at the knee from the fall but otherwise unharmed. Teddy noted this as he raised, leaning forward to get a better look. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm..." she was still a little out of breath. "I'm peachy."

It then became quite obvious of the closeness of their position. Teddy, leaning up on his hands and elbows, Victoire pressed against his chest, her legs pulled in, their noses inches away from each other...

"I think we'd better get going." Teddy said, drawing away. He stood up and offered a hand, which Victoire took begrudgingly. Once again, the two of them set down the corridor, following only their pathway and the glow of their wands.

It was only a matter of time before they would arrive.


	39. Escape

Victoire could feel her legs growing tired as they ascended. The two of them had reached a steep incline over twenty minutes ago, and she couldn't help comparing it to climbing to the fifth floor when you had three minutes 'till class. "Nearly there I think." Teddy called from ahead of her, his breaths unlike hers, even and paced. She had given up trying to stifle her pants about ten minutes back. Sure she was fit from Quidditch, but climbing had never really been her thing. She had memories of Teddy on the other hand, scaling the orchard by the Burrow as a child, grabbing rotting apples and chucking them at her when he was in a bad mood. She stifled a laugh just as he stopped abruptly ahead, causing here to narrowly avoid stepping into him. "Aha!" he breathed, his voice triumphant. She peered over his shoulder and was greeted with the sight of what seemed like a very small panel several feet ahead of them. "_That's _the door?"

"Hey, don't judge it 'till you try it." He shrugged, making his way toward the portrait. "I doubt Aberforth is still up at this hour. The old man's been sleeping most days through ever since he finally accepted seniority." He grinned, nearing the door. As Toire got closer, she could see that there was no door knob, just a thick frame covered by very stiff canvas, like what her mother used to use when she had decided to take up painting. Scribbled in ink in the upper center of the canvas was the title of the painting; _Ariana – Country Road. _She had a flash of recollection for the painting. It accompanied the story she had heard several times at her uncle's knee while Teddy pleaded over and over again for the story of the Dark Lord's defeat to be retold. Harry would tell it to them bashfully, always careful to leave out the part that included the deaths. Particularly the murder of Teddy's parents. Before she had time to further inquire, as this was probably not the most appropriate time to do so, Teddy gave a great push forward on the frame. There was a sharp crack, followed immediately by a cloud of dust that sent Toire into a coughing fit. "Shhhh!" Teddy whispered, grabbing her hand, and covering her mouth with the other. "I said the old man was sleeping, not that he was deaf." He smirked, their faces pleasantly close. His hands were gentle against her, and in her hand she could feel the callouses he'd earned from hard work and a life dedicated to Quidditch. As soon as she thought it, he pulled away, taking a little bit of her warmth with him. She coughed again. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He smiled. "Come on, let's get in there."

Taking a deep breath to brace himself, he pushed one more time and with a final snap, the frame came lose from the wall. The portrait swung open, leaving Victoire and Teddy overlooking pub famously known as the Hogs Head.

"Well I'll be damned." Teddy grinned. Victoire couldn't help but smile with him. It had been remarkably easy considering. She stuck her head out for a better look, taking in the darkness of the place but still noting the shapes that lined the room. Chairs were stacked on tables and the counter had been sloppily wiped down not too long ago. There was still the occasional straggler outside the bar. Apparently Aberforth hadn't been keeping the late hours he had in his prime. Luckily for the two of them, the bar across the street was open and seemed to be attracting most of the attention in Hogsmede. No one was paying attention to the dusty corner pub, let alone the two teenagers inside it.

Teddy leapt down from the perch before she could pull her attention away, landing surprisingly gracefully on the stone floor. He turn towards her and held open his arms to catch her. She turned to him, quirking an eyebrow. "I'm not _incompetent _Teddy, I know how to jump from a ledge."

"I know that, I just didn't want you to get your hair messed up." He said, winking, his arms still open in an invitation. She glared at him at the comment but edged forward all the same. Half expecting him to drop her, she pushed off the edge and was pleasantly surprised when she landed upright in his arms.

He had caught her expertly, his hands pinned around her waist so that she didn't slip. Her hands had gone instinctively for his shoulders and now that what she had shrugged off a moment ago was a reality… she couldn't help but blush. He looked up at her, for some reason not letting go, and smiled. He was so solid, so warm… she couldn't get the scent of him out of her head.

"You're blushing." He said, his smile widening.

"I'm not!" she objected immediately, which of course made her face turn an even deeper shade of pink. She could feel it crawling up her neck, knowing that soon it would reach her ears and she would bear a horrific resemblance to a humiliated Ronald Weasley. "Put me down." She said rather forcefully. He quirked an eyebrow, and she bit her lip. "Please." She said, softer this time.

He loosened his grip and she slid down his front, her shirt riding up slightly so her naval pressed against him. They stood flush to each other, his arms still around her, hers still on his shoulders. He hadn't taken his eyes off her the whole moment.

"Do me a favor." He asked suddenly.

"Okay."

He smiled. "You don't even know what it is yet."

_Dammit, _she cursed herself. _You're being so obvious…_ "Okay then, what is it?" she asked, trying to brush off his comment.

"Save a dance for me tonight."

She felt her chest begin to hammer faster and squirmed a bit at how hot it was becoming. He let his arms drop and so did she, but neither of them stepped away. "You know I would have done that anyway." She said, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Maybe." He shrugged. "But you're a popular girl. Who knows what could happen."

She laughed. "Yeah, okay. Just promise to keep your woman-charming to a minimum and we have a deal."

"Good." He said, biting his lip momentarily. She had the sudden urge to hook her fingers in his belt loops and pull him closer. She hadn't even noticed that neither of them had been speaking until he broke the silence. "I'll get some stuff from the cellar then." He said, and as quickly as it had come, the connection had gone. They were back to business.  
>"You focus on what's behind the bar."<p>

"Alright." She said, moving away from him, feeling her the heat in her face once again. "I've put an undetectable extension charm on the bag over there, so you can just put it in when you come up." She said, nodding to the backpack they had brought along.

"Righto. Good thinking." He grinned, turning towards a trapdoor towards the back. "Remember to be quiet!" he whispered over his shoulder, lifting the door just as it let out a huge creek. She clenched her hand instinctively and brought it to her mouth wincing along with him. The two of them froze for a moment, listening to the upstairs for any sign of movement. When there was none, Teddy nodded and continued on his way. "Speak for yourself." She mumbled, turning towards the bar, trying to keep the smirk off her face.

She examined the top of it, sliding behind the counter. There was beer and ale on tap in plain view, but down low on shelves there were rows upon rows of bottles and crates, all containing an assortment of different booze.

There were boxes of Fire Whiskey, assortments of Butterbeer, Flogged Tolly's Rum and even a crate of Venus Vodka. Mixed among it were bottles of muggle drinks and even some exotic things she couldn't pronounce the name of. She started rifling around in the boxes, pulling out this and that and setting it aside. Once she thought she had enough she started carrying them towards the backpack, reaching down deep enough that her whole arm had to stretch until she felt the bottom. She was just finishing up with the bag when she heard an un-doubtable crash from below.

She froze. "Shit shit shit shit shit…" she whispered, scurrying across the floor to the cellar door. She peered into the depth of the pub, one ear listening of footsteps above as she called down. "What the hell what that?" she whispered.

"I found a keg!" Teddy whispered back excitedly. She blinked.

"A keg."

"Yeah! It's great, help me get it up there, hold on I just gotta-"

"Teddy."

"One sec, I've almost got it. It's a bit heavy-"

"_Teddy._"

He paused, his face coming back into view. "What?"

"_What the hell are you thinking?_"

He looked up at her, stunned that she wasn't as elated about this discovery as he was. "What do you mean? It's a keg, that's exactly what we need-"

"Teddy."

"_What?"_

"How are we going to get a keg back to the Gryffindor common room without making any noise."

He stood there.

"How are we going to get a keg out of his _cellar_ without making any noise?"

They stared at each other for a moment, Teddy's brows furrowed. Then, in an instant of inspiration, a wide grin split his face.

"You clearly didn't pay much attention in first year Charms, now did you?"

"I can't believe we're doing this."

Teddy took a step back from the lip of the cellar. The backpack was weighing him down- Toire must have snagged half the stock at this rate- and with all her complaining; her nerves were starting to rub off on him. "Come on, let's get it up and go." He whispered down to her. The two of them had traded placed since Teddy's revelation and Victoire was currently shaking her head as if this were the worst decision she had ever heard, even though Teddy thought it was a pretty damn good one.

"I can't believe we're doing this." She repeated again.

"_I _can't believe you forgot we know magic." Teddy smirked, while Toire heaved a sigh, muttering something under her breath that sounded an awful lot like "plastered".

"Just do it already!" he called down.

"_Fine._" She mumbled, lifting her wand. "_Wingardium Leviosa" ._

Without a hitch, the keg began to rise and a wide smile spread across Teddy's face.

"I don't know why you're so happy, it's literally one of the first spells we ever learned."

"I am going to get Clyde so shitfaced." Teddy muttered to himself, ignoring Victoire completely. "Come on then, let's go."

After much pulling and placing, Teddy now had Victoire's bag and the keg balanced beside one another. He reached down into the cellar to give Toire a hand and pulled her up until she stood beside him.

"Well, that was easy." He said, clapping his hands together. "Now, who wants to carry the keg?"

Without a word, Victoire pointed her wand at the crate and the two of them watched it levitate once more. "My aim is pretty good. We should be able to make it through the tunnel like this." She said to him, letting a smile ease into her words.

"Brilliant." Teddy grinned. And they were off.

After about an hour or so of trekking back through the tunnels (they couldn't believe Aberforth hadn't woken up, considering they had just stolen nearly a quarter of his bar's contents) Teddy halted the expedition for a moment of planning. "We're getting close. Just let me check in here for minute…" he reached into the depths of his pocket and pulled out a well worn and creased piece of paper. Victoire's face lit up.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Teddy muttered under his breath, and in a matter of seconds a map spread out like ink spilled on parchment, filling in all the lines and dots that made up Hogwarts castle and all of it's residents. Just as Teddy had suspected, the Gryffindor common room was packed full of students all awaiting their arrival.

"So, we know we don't show up on this, but I'm just checking to see if…" he trailed off, eyes glancing over the corridors on the floor of the room of requirement looking for any signs of movement. "Right. Filtch is on the third floor so we're safe for now. Ready?" he asked, glancing towards Toire.

"Piece of cake." She smiled. Moving forward down the corridor they finally reached the end.

Opening the door under the statue, Teddy raised confidently while Toire waited below, still levitating the keg. _This is ridiculous…_ she kept thinking to herself, glancing back and forth from Teddy to the keg. _I could get expelled for this…_

Suddenly there was a loud slam as Teddy dropped back into the tunnel from his spot above. Toire let out a squeal and the spell on the keg was broken, sending it crashing down to the ground and leaving a huge dent in the side, perilously weaker than before and seeming easily crackable. Not to mention the noise, now echoing down the tunnel, was probably loud enough to wake the nearest member of the Queen's navy, let alone a professor. _"What the hell!" _Victoire hissed at Teddy who was now lying on the ground from where he'd falling, body tense with the shock of it.

"Sorry! Shit, Mrs. Norris was up there and I didn't notice on the map…"

"Well we have to go now then! She'll get Filch!"

"Right, right…" Teddy said, panicked. "Okay, get up and hand me the-"

There was a creak from above. Footsteps. Then an all too familiar voice.

"What have we found here my precious?" the voice croaked through the door cracks.

Teddy and Victoire looked at each other. There was no way out.


End file.
